Checkmate
by LilyBartAndTheOthers
Summary: Life is all about strategical moves, a single mistake and you lose the game. Will Cailin's plans to bring Maura and Jane together work out? Unless they will simply learn that they should never play with each other's heart. J/M fic, Rizzles.
1. Some Things You Don't Say Out Loud

_**"When the time bell blows my heart**_

_**And I have scored a better day**_

_**Well nobody made this war of mine"**_

**Chapter One:**

Three months. What were three months in one's life? She knew it herself; it would be over before she even had time to realize it had happened; to analyze all the things such peculiar situation could actually bring up. Hadn't she said herself that she wanted a family? Hadn't she kept on looking at the others with envy when they gathered and shared simple moments she had never got to live?

As Maura made it upstairs – mug of herbal tea in hand – she knew that this was her chance; maybe the only one she would ever get. It might not have been perfect, it was still there and Cailin was part of her family; to an extent.

Timidly, the honey blonde passed the door of the guestroom where the young student had settled in. Trying to ignore the way Cailin had unpacked a few things here and there without taking time to properly hang her clothes in the closet, Maura forced a smile; cleared her voice to catch her sister's attention. Within the last hours, everything had gone fast. Too fast. Hope had asked the scientist whether she could welcome Cailin while she would be abroad and without understanding what was really happening, Maura had suddenly found herself thrown in the middle of a cohabitation with a person she barely knew; to whom she was though linked in a peculiar way.

If she had never been good at handling human relationships, the idea of bonding with Cailin seemed to be a real challenge that she wasn't sure to be properly able to take up.

Looking up from her notes – lay down on her stomach on the bed – the brunette echoed Maura's smile and waited for the medical examiner to speak. She looked utterly comfortable, at ease. Too much, maybe.

Clutched to her mug, the blonde bit her lower lip. What was she supposed to say? After Jane had left, she had simply assumed that checking on Cailin to make sure that everything was alright came up logically. Yet now that she stood in front of the young woman, the realization that she had very few conversation plans was striking her rather harshly. Feeling a wave of panic crawl under her skin, she took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

"I hope that you will enjoy your stay, here. I know that this isn't your home but consider it as it and if you need anything, please let me know. I... I will do my best."

Her remark satisfied Cailin who nodded energetically before casting a glance at her notes; all the sheet of papers spread in front of her. College had just started yet she had a lot to study already.

"I will! All this might keep me up all night, though. So don't be worried. You and Jane can go to bed and if I need coffee or something, I'll go down to make some."

Maura smiled then froze as Cailin's words began to resound loud in her head. Confused, a thin line appeared on her forehead. Incomprehension and uncertainty settled in. Had she understood what her sister had told her the way she should have? After long seconds of doubts, she abdicated and shook her head before letting a nervous laugh pass her lips.

"Jane isn't spending the night, here. She... She went home. Although I might go to bed soon, you are right on this."

The brunette seemed genuinely surprised, which only managed to increase Maura's doubts about the insinuation of the previous comment. Curiously enough, the amused smile that suddenly played on Cailin's lips didn't reassure her at all.

"Oh... I'm nineteen, you know. It's all fine if she stays, here. I'm not close-minded or anything. As a matter of fact, some friends of mine are in a same-sex relationship. It's okay, there's nothing wrong with it."

If the medical examiner had been one to trust her instinct, she would have said that she had seen it come but until Cailin had made her point clear, she had assumed that she might have misinterpreted her sister's words. Though she hadn't, obviously. A wave of heat rushed up her cheeks and all of a sudden, she felt vulnerable – ridiculous – with her mug in hand; in her silky pajamas.

While a multitude of wonders were twirling around in her head, she tried to find a proper way – the best one – to clear up such misunderstanding but the words didn't manage to fix themselves in her brain. They kept on dancing around, slipping through her fingers before she had a chance to make a sentence out of them.

"Jane and I aren't together. I mean... We spend time together – a lot of time – so in this sense it is fair enough to say that we are together but we aren't like in... No. We... We aren't. A couple. We aren't a couple, if that is what you meant..."

Her mumbling didn't result very effective and the more she observed Cailin – whose face seemed a tad lost in incomprehension – the more Maura assumed that she had made the right choice about her professional career. Dealing with dead people was a lot easier than conversing with someone whose reactions were hard to handle.

"Oh."

The brunette didn't look bothered by her mistake, not the least. As a matter of fact, curiosity had settled in and frowning, she sat up on the bed before discarding the pen she had been holding until then.

"You've never slept together or you're not together anymore...?"

Maura chuckled. She hadn't expected that one of her first interactions with her sister would take such direction. Talking about sex wasn't a problem in itself for her and Cailin wasn't really a child anymore but still, there was something odd in all of this; the way things seemed to be escaping from her without leaving her a chance to ever try to get something out of it.

"No! I am... We are just friends, we have never... Of course not!"

A few seconds passed by during which Cailin didn't move, didn't say a word. Her eyes were simply fixed on Maura; as if she were trying to read through the honey blonde's own gaze. Finally, she bit her lower lip and shook her head.

"But you're still attracted to women, aren't you? You're not straight. You've dated women – slept with them – whatever you want to call it... Haven't you?"

The medical examiner opened her mouth to reply but not a single word passed her lips. Instead, her eyes began to scan the room nervously; desperately. Perhaps coming to check on her sister hadn't been a smart move. She was starting to regret it, little by little.

Cailin didn't miss her it; the way Maura seemed uncomfortable, now. Apologetically, she rose her hand and shook her head. It took her aback – completely aback – but maybe she had misjudged her older sister on her easiness to talk about some things; starting with her private life.

Perhaps the honey blonde had boundaries.

"Forget it, it's fine. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. Some people don't like talking about it and... I don't know, I thought you didn't mind. It's okay, really."

Not knowing what to say nor do, Maura nodded in silence and turned on her heels. Very slowly, her steps led her to the door that she had let open but as her hand brushed the wooden frame – on her way out – she stopped and looked down at the floor. The silence of the house seemed heavy, all of a sudden. Loud, full of reproaches.

"I have no problem talking about my life. It is just that some things aren't made to be said out loud. It might sound wrong to you right now but one day you will understand what I mean. Goodnight..."


	2. It Is My Duty

_**Author's note: thank you very much for the reviews, it's always a pleasure to read you. Also, I promise I will write a very last sequel to "To Fix You" once I'm done with this one. **_

**Chapter Two:**

It was a usual gesture – deprived of any connotation – yet when Jane pressed Maura's thigh with her hand, the medical examiner swallowed hard and stared at her friend's fingers in silence.

Was it because of this kind of gestures that people assumed they were intimate? Confused, Maura looked up and briefly scanned the room. The place was full of policemen and detectives. Soon, the usual journalists would show up as well to start filming the crime scene before taking their chances to ask her for further information about the victim's identity; the cause of death. Everyone would – of course – notice Jane's hand on her thigh and no mattered it was an innocent move, perhaps people would interpret it differently.

Although as far as she knew, there was no rumor at the BPD about them being more than friends; nothing in the media either, in articles dedicated to their work; to them.

But with this habit of hers to evolve in her very own world, perhaps she had missed it all.

Squatted next to her, the brunette was in full talk – technically with her – while she kept on showing details on the cadaver. Maura shook her head and tried to focus on the scene. She was at her work place; there was no room right now for other thoughts, especially personal ones. All of a sudden, a spotlight got turned on and blinded her. She made a step backwards, the old stage floor cracking under her weight.

She looked at the dead body one more time.

"I have another duty equally sacred... My duty to myself."

As her words resounded low in the playhouse, the honey blonde stood up back and took her gloves off. Jane echoed her movement but obviously lost before the remark, she frowned.

"What?"

Maura smiled peacefully; as if a dead body in the middle of a stage didn't bother her the slightest bit.

The experience, all these years spent on crimes scenes. People were wrong to think that she was fine with it. She had simply learned how to handle it.

"_A Doll's House_. This is the play that they were rehearsing, a very controversial one; by Henrik Ibsen. It is a virulent critic towards the norms of marriage in the 19th century. Nora, the protagonist, ends up leaving her husband as well as her children to discover who she really is. A classic!"

Her smile froze as a flash made her turn around. Photographers and journalists had arrived and – as usual – had managed to sneak in to be as close as possible to the victim; like vultures on a prey.

Jane grabbed her forearm in an attempt to catch back her attention but her gesture only pushed the scientist to take her distance. Awkwardly enough. The brunette didn't seem to notice or at least she didn't make any remark about Maura's unexpected reaction to her touch.

"Wonderful. I'm going to stick around and will see you later, okay? By the way, you didn't tell me how it went with Cailin after I left, last night...?"

The medical examiner shrugged and looked aside, unsure of what she was supposed to reply. Her sister's words had been haunting her all night long and were still obviously floating around right now.

To the point a heavy discomfort weighed on her shoulders, on her mind. Ridiculously enough. Who didn't make false assumptions, once in a while? Cailin hadn't lacked respect to her. In theory, it was all fine.

In theory.

"We don't know each other much yet so I guess it is a bit awkward."

…

Medical files in hand, Maura passed the door of her house only to freeze as she noticed the three people staring at her from the kitchen island. A few more seconds and a peculiar smell made it to her head dizzily. Who had used her yoga incense sticks downstairs when their only purpose was to accompany meditation sessions at night? Forcing a smile, she joined her guests and accepted the glass of wine that Jane tended her immediately; out of habit.

"Cailin, Megan and I were talking about the college life. Looks like I've missed something big."

Megan. Maura turned and shook the young girl's hand assuming she was one of her sister's friends. Would they both find it odd that Jane had made it to the Beacon Hill house before the owner of the house herself? Annoyed with these wonders that hadn't left her all day long, the scientist went to sip on her wine. Alcohol would make everything blurry and it was exactly what she needed right now.

"I have found the files I talked to you about earlier. We will check them together later, if you want."

Jane nodded – cast a glance at the stack of papers that Maura had discarded on the counter – but as she went to grab the first file, her arm brushed the blonde's. The touch made the scientist blush. Would it always be like that, now? Immediately, Maura hid herself behind her glass of wine; trying to ignore Cailin and Megan's eyes on her.

"What do you study, Megan?"

The young girl took a sip of her diet Coke and smiled brightly at Maura. She seemed to be nice, well educated. Polite.

"Psychology."

The medical examiner was about to reply when the door bell rang. Surprised, she turned her head around but Jane happened to be faster. In a fluid movement, the brunette stood up from her stool and rushed to the door.

"Pizzas have arrived!"

Not bothering to restrain a groan, Maura rolled her eyes and trotted behind her friend; hands on her hips in a visible sign of disapproving.

"Junk food again? Jane! You had a burger for lunch. Don't you think a salad would have been a lot healthier, tonight? Besides, I am sure that you didn't even order organic ones... I am going to make you go on a detox diet, I tell you."

The detective opened the door only to greet the delivery guy, mimicking all along Maura's complain about her meal choices. An old scenario, a daily one.

"I got a veggie one, for you. You can hardly make it healthier... Unless they invent a soy stuff pizza. By the way, do you have cash to tip him? I'm afraid I only have enough for the food."

Obviously annoyed, Maura nonetheless gave in and grabbed her bag to find a few bills. From the kitchen island, Cailin and Megan observed the scene in silence until Hope's daughter turned her face to look at her friend; a knowing smile playing on her lips.

"So?"

Megan checked a last time at Jane and Maura who were now bickering over a pizza topping choice; some obscure dilemma about mushrooms and cheese. Slowly, she focused back on Cailin and nodded.

"I guess we can definitely give it a try."

In all discretion, both students shook hands; exchanging a mischievous smile. Their pact was sealed and the game could now start.

"Hey, who wants a bite of this cheesy and oh so greasy pizza?"

All smile – casting a sarcastic glance at Maura – Jane came back to the kitchen and winced at the girls in delight.

The scientist got rid of her stilettos and walked barefoot to her guests. She was tired and for once didn't mind much about not wearing shoes around. The day had been long and considering the files she had brought back with her, she wasn't about to go to bed either.

Rolling her eyes at her friend's comment, she looked at Cailin and Megan then shook her head.

"Food compensation. Jane throws herself in food compensation. She might enjoy it now but I can assure you that it won't last. Not with me being around."


	3. This Link Between You And I

_**Author's note: thank you again for the reviews, I love reading them.**_

**Chapter Three:**

For the thousandth time within a minute, Cailin checked her watch and frowned. It had been almost an hour now since Maura had gone to change upstairs, announcing that she would come back right away. Yet the medical examiner still had to appear in the living-room. Looking up at the ceiling, the young brunette bit her lower lip. The house was dead silent. What if something had happened to the scientist? Perhaps one of her victims' murderer had been looking for vengeance and without the student noticing it, the person had sneaked in by a window of the first floor to slice open Maura's throat.

Ridiculous. Cailin shook her head but stood up and – carefully enough – headed towards the stairs in silence.

"Maura? Are you there?"

Apprehension had crawled underneath Cailin's skin, tightening its grip on her throat; reducing her voice to a barely audible whisper to which nobody answered. Her hands shaking on the banister, it took the young woman all the courage she had to dare and step in the hallway. Slowly, she headed to Maura's bedroom which door was open ajar. Apart from her own breath – too loud for her own taste – it didn't seem like anyone else was there.

Yet when she passed the door of the master bedroom, a bright light coming from the walk-in closet welcomed her. The honey blonde was there – on her knees – obviously looking for something close, or better said behind, the dresses section. Relieved and feeling utterly stupid for having imagined a whole series of terrible scenarios, Cailin rolled her eyes before bringing her hand to her heart.

"Do you need some help?"

Maura – who hadn't noticed her sister's presence – let a scream of surprise pass her lips and within a second reappeared from behind her collection of _haute-couture_ dresses.

"I didn't hear you come in, you scared me! I am sorry... I was just looking for a silk scarf that seems to have vanished. Unless Jane has borrowed it from me; for a date, maybe."

As her older sister was standing back on her feet, Cailin cast a glance at the closet which looked a lot more like an extra room in itself. Everything was neat – put under the best light – just like in all these expensive boutiques she never dared to walk in.

An impressive collection of designers clothes and accessories.

"Why do you dress like this at work, considering you're going to spend a lot of time in scrubs?"

The question took Maura aback. She had never really thought about it herself; it was just the way she was, her personality. Uncertain of the answer she was supposed to bring up, she looked at the shoes – perfectly aligned – and the skirts, a bit further on her right, before shrugging.

"My parents taught me to never show in public unkempt."

Almost immediately, the medical examiner regretted her words. Perhaps alluding to her family – her adoptive one – wasn't the best thing to do with Cailin considering their background. But the young girl didn't seem to mind much. On the contrary, it made her laugh.

"My mother abandoned such goal when as a little girl, all I wanted was to walk around barefoot and roll myself in the grass of our backyard."

Shrugging off the memory, Cailin approached the dresses section and picked one up to look at it properly. Maura followed her and swallowed hard. The truth was that she hated when people went and touched her clothes. But she was ready to make an effort for her sister.

"Would you like to try it on?"

The only one to whom she had lent a piece of clothing was Jane. It hadn't bothered her the least to do so, on that day. But nobody else would ever have this privilege. Except for her sister, maybe.

And yet, for a few minutes only.

Touched by the offer, Cailin went to stand in front of the large mirror and placed the dress in front of her. It was an elegant black one; ankle-length. Probably one of Maura's favorite choices when it came to go on a date. At the thought, the young brunette looked up in the mirror and smiled at her sister standing behind her.

"I'm really sorry for my assumption about Jane and you. It made you uncomfortable and it wasn't my intention at all."

Maura turned around – twisting her hands – and began to check her shoes nervously. They hadn't alluded to this conversation ever again and – little by little – she had forgotten about it; about these things that it had implied, involuntarily. She shrugged, laughed nervously.

"It is okay. I... I don't know why I reacted that way. You might have taken me aback slightly...There aren't a lot of people who assume that... That I am attracted to women. I don't fit in the cliched idea they have of it."

Restraining a smile of victory, Cailin bit the inside of her mouth and turned around. Within a step, she was standing by her sister and could look at her in the eyes.

"You date women, don't you? I'm not judging, as I already told you. But... You do?"

For long seconds, Maura pondered the question. She had grown accustomed – through the years – to not talk about this part of her life; to anyone. Not that she didn't assume it but it belonged to her private life and it was nobody's business but hers. She didn't want people to talk in her back; colleagues or media. She had responsibilities at work and needed to control everything perfectly if she wanted it to go just fine. But Cailin had rushed in and crashed everything down within a second; giving her the feeling that all these things she had built were as fragile as any house of cards.

And she hated it.

"I do, indeed. Although I am not sure that I can call any of my latest dates "relationships" either. As a matter of fact, I am afraid that it has been a very long while since any of these... Since any worked out."

Cailin smiled apologetically and looked down at the dress she was holding; unsure of what she was supposed to say. For once, Maura gave in first and made another step towards her.

"And you? Do you... Do you date women too? Do you... Are you seeing someone? A guy or a girl, anyone..."

Her question made her blush. It was the most incongruous thing she had asked in a while; and to a person she barely knew, besides. They might have been linked somehow, it was hard to say that they were close like other siblings were either.

"Oh, I'm straight; as far as I know. But... No, I'm not seeing anyone right now. You know... College has just started and I haven't been in Boston for a long time so I'm kind of the newbie, here. It takes time to settle in somewhere and find someone."

_Touché._

Looking down at her feet, the honey blonde remained quiet for a long while. She knew way too well what Cailin was talking about; the feelings that came within. Nodding, she locked her eyes with her sister and forced a smile.

"I have been a newbie all my life... Jane is the only one who has managed to make me feel fine so far."

Her whispered confession floated above heavily, preventing them from adding anything. A noise coming from the bedroom broke the silence and as they both turned around, Jane appeared by the entrance of the walk-in closet; obviously unaware of what had just been said.

"Is the closet the new kitchen for family gatherings?"

Maura smiled and shook her head at her friend. At times, she wondered what her life would look like if she hadn't Jane by her side and the only conclusions she always drew were path of gray clouds; a monotone and lonely road.

It might have sounded stupid but somehow, she considered Jane as her light.


	4. Of Playing A Role

_**Author's note: thank you again for all your reviews, I'm really happy to see that you're enjoying this story!**_

**Chapter Four:**

"The murders look alike on every point except I can't link them, as much as I try to do so. They have nothing in common; from the company directors to the caterers employed for both playhouses. The only – and yet so tiny – thing is the roles that both victims played: Nora and Antigone."

For having practiced the autopsy of both corpses, Maura knew what Jane meant. Both actresses had been killed according to the same scheme; within a week. As much as she never trusted her very own instinct, the honey blonde knew that they might have been dealing with one and only one killer. Too many coincidences, too many parallelisms. But it was her friend's last comment that made her frown and bend over the table, eager to hear more.

Chewing on her fries, the detective shrugged and looked around before lowering her voice.

"You told me Nora was some kind of a rebel, right? Then a bit like Antigone who refuses the rules of her society that state that women must be afraid of men who are considered as dominant. I'll read Ibsen's play tonight but perhaps it's in this direction we should look at."

Maura didn't hide her surprise. She had never imagined that Jane actually knew much about plays, even less Greek tragedies. One more time, she had underestimated her and she felt sorry, guilty.

"Do not fear for me. Make straight your own path to destiny."

The brunette scoffed and looked at the medical examiner in disbelief; somewhere in between envy and pride. Slowly, she shook her head then took a sip of her soft drink.

"How do you do that, Maur'? How do you manage to quote a play or a poem so easily? Have you learned them by heart at some point?"

The scientist burst out laughing; bit her lower lip as a wave of timidity spread over her.

"I just have a good memory... Although to come back on your case, I have to say that your idea isn't bad; even if it doesn't explain why someone would kill actresses who both were to play feminists of their time. A conservative person? These plays are extremely symbolic."

A rear of laughter – a couple of tables away – caught their attention. A group of students – five of them – had settled there for lunch. Yet when Maura cast a glance at the restaurant, she realized the crowd was quite young in itself. Once in a while, both friends liked sharing lunch outside; far from a noisy and rather impersonal BPD, cold offices.

As if to remember that days weren't drawn to murders and suspicious deaths only.

"Do you have anything planned on Saturday evening?"

The question seemed to take Jane aback; almost as if it had sounded incongruous enough. But as the seconds passed by, the brunette squinted her eyes at her friend; trying to read through such a remark.

"I already told you that I wouldn't try Bikram yoga on Saturday night. It's worse than speed dating. If that's ever possible..."

Maura giggled – rolled her eyes – and pouted at the detective's obviously sarcastic answer. If the group of students hadn't been loud, she would have probably forgotten about it but there she was, now.

"I was more thinking about a bar. Actually, Cailin was thinking about a bar. She wants to invite us to spend the night out with her and a few friends."

Hard to say that Jane wasn't surprised by the offer – just as the scientist had been in the morning when her sister had advanced the idea – but glad enough, she ended up nodding.

"Why not. They'd better not make me feel too old, though. How is it going between the two of you, by the way? Ma' told me that you had gone wild again last evening."

Maura made a face. Of course she could count on Angela to make a daily report about that odd cohabitation going on at her place. Growing uncomfortable, the medical examiner began to move around on her seat.

"My house has turned into a sorority place. Or the brand new bar everyone has to try, I am not too sure. I would have never imagined that someone could actually know so many people nor trash it all around within such a short amount of time."

An amused smile played on Jane's lips. With the case going on, she hadn't had much time lately to stop by Beacon Hill; except for a dinner or two, and yet it was to study medical procedures.

"Are you jealous of Cailin because she has friends and you didn't at her age?"

Maura scoffed, obviously offended. She gulped down whatever was left of her glass of wine and folded her napkin by her empty plate.

"We are simply different, extremely different... To the point it is hard to believe that we are related, in the end."

...

"After a phase of observation which conclusions turned out to be positive, we agree on launching the "Jane and Maura Mission" which main purpose – beyond a psychological and an experimental angle – is the pursue of happiness between these two subjects. Our dedication to the case will be full and meticulous. At no moment will we abandon the project that will only be seen as over once Jane and Maura commit to each other."

The young blonde looked up from the iPad at Cailin and Megan sat in front of her and shook her head; smiling brightly.

"You. Are. Just. Crazy."

Sipping on their respective lattes, Cailin and Megan laughed before exchanging a well knowing look. Hope's daughter spoke first; ready to present the arguments she had built in her head for quite a long time already.

"They are made for each other, like you have no idea. It's obvious. I give you five minutes with them for you to notice it. They're so wasting their life, right now. I mean... Since I've been living with my sister, I've realized many things about her: she's so lonely and looks so lost. All the time but when Jane is around. Even the stuff she says about her "friend". It's... It betrays her."

Molly – the blonde girl – frowned. She didn't look convinced yet rather amused by her friend's odd project.

"What about Jane? Are you sure it's mutual?"

Cailin chuckled. As much as she still had to get closer to the detective in order to prepare her plan to the perfection, she felt confident enough. Megan sighed loudly then rolled her eyes.

"They're in love with each other. They just don't know it yet. Perfect object of study for my behavioral lecture. These two are basically married already. The only thing missing is the sexual character of their oh so symbiotic relation."

Molly rose her hands in the air – in a sign of abdication – and looked down at the iPad on which the pact that her two friends had signed had been typed in detail. The "Jane and Maura Mission", as they had named it.

"Goal 1: the bar...?"

Cailin nodded but let Megan answer. After all, she was the one who studied psychology; these phases supposed to bring her sister and Jane together had been elaborated by the one who knew the most about human behaviors and such.

"We're taking them to Sister Sorel although they only know we're going out."

Molly choked on her coffee – coughed loudly – and tried to restrain her laugh. Perhaps, this pact would be a lot funnier than what she had assumed in the first place.

"You're taking them to a gay bar?!"

Grabbing back her iPad to open a new window with a very detailed plan, Cailin nodded and with all the seriousness in the world, tended back the device to her friend.

"Yes, we take them to a gay bar. And... This is basically when we need you in the picture."


	5. It Is Hard To Explain

_**Author's note: I'm really happy to see that you're enjoying the story; I have a slight tendency to make things last before it "finally" happens so I hope you'll be patient enough (not that you'll have to wait for the 300th chapter for at least a kiss!).**_

**Chapter Five:**

Sister Sorel was a trendy bar located in South End Boston; its brick walls and paintings by local artists reminding the East Village of Manhattan. The crowd – rather colorful – was quite young if not mainly made up of students and young hipsters dancing along some loud music at the bottom of the room while others had gathered around small tables or spent their time chatting at the counter.

Clutched to her beer, Jane cast a glance at her surroundings before forcing a smile at Molly and her girlfriend Chloe sat in front of her. Where had Maura gone, exactly? The honey blonde had left for a long time already and her absence was starting to weigh on Jane. Cailin and Megan were in full talk while the other two had got lost in public gestures of affection that – even if rather cute – were making the detective uncomfortable.

Jane had never been one to display such things in front of everyone.

All of a sudden, Molly's jaw dropped as she stared at something behind the brunette's shoulder. A smile – rather amused – played on her lips, lighting up her delicate features.

"Looks like Maura's in good company."

Immediately, Jane turned around only to see her friend in full talk with a woman. Leaned against the bar – sipping on a Martini – the medical examiner's suggestive smile didn't leave much room to the imagination. Was she drunk that she was deliberately flirting with a person of the same sex, in front of half of Boston? Something hurt inside of Jane. An odd sensation of disappointment and bitter emptiness that crawled under her skin, leaving her disarmed; lonely. As she turned back on her seat, she sipped on her drink in silence and looked down at the table intently. Cailin and her friends were observing her, she knew it.

A few seconds passed by before she stood up in a mumble of apologies and rushed to the back of the bar towards the restroom. The door locked behind her, the music came by waves; stifled beats resounding loud in her chest. With shaking hands, she grabbed the sink and bent over it; swallowed hard. Her sight turned blurry.

"Oh, come on!"

Confused before the whirl of emotions she had been carried in – by all these tears that came from nowhere – Jane took a deep breath and passed some water on her nape. She straightened up and stormed out into the bar again.

"Dance with me."

It hadn't been more of an invitation than an order in itself. Taken aback, Maura stared at her friend in disbelief. The detective was standing by her side – not minding much about the blonde's interlocutor nor the fact that she had interrupted them in the middle of a conversation. She looked determined. Slightly angry, perhaps. Without waiting for a reaction from Maura, Jane grabbed her hand then dragged her among the crowd of dancers. The music being played was slow, sensual enough.

Couples moving with fluidity around; their bodies brushing each other's.

Through the years, the scientist had learned to not question some of her friend's decisions, if only because at times Maura knew that Jane herself had no idea what drove her to react the way she did. Thus, she let her do as the brunette grabbed her by the waist in an attempt to copy the other dancers' moves and pulled her towards her own body.

Soon, Maura relaxed – forgot about the scene Jane had just thrown in – and let her hands slide on her friend's lower back; a leg between the detective's. As much as they used to be close, their brand new proximity caused by the dance – the slow rubbing of their bodies against each other – was a tad disturbing and for long seconds, none of them dared to talk nor exchange a gaze.

Finally, Maura gave in.

"I am sorry. I didn't know that they would take us to a gay bar."

If none of them had missed the rainbow flag by the door as they had arrived, they hadn't alluded to it either; if only by politeness towards Cailin and her friends who had been nice enough to feel like inviting them. Jane shrugged and took some distance with Maura in order to look at her properly; in the eyes, this time. Not a whisper against her ear as the medical examiner had just done.

"Take it as a break from all these pain-in-the-ass guys who usually chat us up at The Robber."

...

The ringing of her cell phone took her out of her sleep. Moaning and rolling on her side – yet not opening her eyes – Maura tended her arm to grab the item but misjudged the distance with it and catapulted the electronic device on the floor.

"Shit."

Her hoarse voice found an echo in Jane's groan somewhere in her back; on the other side of the bed. They had come back from the bar in the early hours of the morning; exhausted and slightly confused by a thousand things they hadn't dared to say out loud, from Jane dragging her to the dance floor with authority to Cailin's friends' well-knowing smiles whenever they had addressed them.

"Language."

The brunette's comment made Maura chuckle. For once the roles were reversed, the scientist had to react to it one way or another. Squinting her eyes to the screen, the blonde read the message as quick as possible before abandoning the phone back on the floor and settling back in bed for some more sleep.

"'T was Senior Criminalist Susie Chang."

Jane scoffed, clutched to her pillow; her eyes still closed, in a half-awake state.

"Gosh that freak never stops workin'? What time is it?"

Maura remained silent for long seconds, trying to remember whether she had checked time during the few seconds she had opened her eyes to read the text message. A loud sigh passed her lips as she frowned.

"Eight, I guess."

A moan welcomed her answer, soon followed by Jane's leg sliding between hers and her friend's arm passing on her stomach as the brunette turned around and cuddled against her.

If such closeness had embarrassed them at some point, they had ceased to see it as a problem. It was just an odd habit, now. Whenever they shared a bed. Waking up in each other's arms belonged pretty much to their routine; a secret one, though. None of them would have dared to confess it to anyone.

"Wake me up at noon."

Maura smiled and – eyes still closed – focused on her breathing to fall back asleep. Jane's breath on her neck – coming to caress her skin by regular waves – that usually rocked her to sleep stirred up another kind of effect on her, this time. Suddenly, the honey blonde got fully aware of the way her friend's knee was brushing her inner thigh. How Jane's foot lay on top of hers while her hand was innocently resting on her lower stomach.

Her face plunged in the depths of her neck. The dark curls caressing her skin, there.

The medical examiner swallowed hard at the exhilaration of her senses and tried to ignore the reactions that were slowly building in her body; all these well-known sensations of warmth, of goosebumps and funny feelings in her lower stomach.

She was aroused by their closeness; unexpectedly, incomprehensibly.

"Maur', you 'kay? It's like you're hyperventilating or somethin'..."

No mattered her eyes were close and she couldn't face Jane properly, the honey blonde felt a rush of heat invade her cheeks. Swallowing hard, she tried to calm down her rough breath.

"Everything's fine."

She should have taken some distance, perhaps moved slightly to get away – if only for a few inches – from her friend. It was the behavior that one was expected to adopt under such circumstances.

Yet she didn't. For once, Maura abandoned herself to the pleasant sensations; leaning her cheek against Jane's head, the scent of her shampoo going to her head bewitchingly. She forgot conventionalism for a selfish purpose only.

And so what? Nobody would ever know it.


	6. The Subtlety Of Discretion

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all these reviews, it's really nice of you and always a pleasure to read them.**_

**Chapter Six:**

Discarding their bags on the table, both girls sat at the bottom of the room – coffee in hands – as other students were slowly stepping into the class as well.

"Since by 11.30am they weren't showing up, Angela sent me to check whether they were awake... The door of the bedroom was open ajar, I only had to push it to see them both literally in the arms of each other, sleeping soundly. They haven't kissed, haven't had sex yet but I guess we can say it nonetheless took a great start. Piece of cake."

Molly giggled and shook her head. If she had had doubts at some point, they all had flown by the window after the evening spent with Maura and Jane at Sister Sorel. Cailin was right: there was something underlying between them, something floating close to the surface.

"Hannah said Maura was quite receptive to her seduction moves when she chatted her up at the counter. And Jane's reaction was priceless. So glad I still get along with my ex, I'll never thank Hannah enough for this scene."

Hope's daughter straightened up on her chair while a smirk of satisfaction played on her lips. She still had to work on a few things – to get closer to the detective in order to target her actions with more precision, for instance – but still, that night out had been a success.

The loud noise of paper being slammed against the wooden table took her out of her daydreams.

"Trouble's coming."

While settling down on her own chair, Chloe made a face and let Cailin have a look at the sheet of paper she had slid under the brunette's nose. For long seconds, nobody talked; eyes fixed on the text, the pictures.

"It could actually be a wake-up call... Anyway, they now need intimacy. The rest of the plan will be set up at home."

It wasn't stubbornness but determination. And confidence. Not troubled the least by these quite unexpected news, Cailin nodded to nobody but herself; as if to strengthen her last comment.

…

Annoyed by the quietness of the open space, Jane looked up from her computer and sighed. Her colleagues had left for lunch and she had declined their invitation to join them. She wasn't hungry. Nervousness and confusion had settled in her head since the evening before, shutting down all the rest.

It was odd. Everything was odd. The way it had struck her when she had come back to her place at the end of the afternoon on this rainy Sunday – facing nothing but the silence of her apartment – and the oppressive sensation it left on her shoulders; on her heart.

Something that laid between guilt and uncertainty.

Biting her thumb nail, the brunette frowned at the incessant thoughts. Why had she reacted this way with Maura at the bar when she had seen her with this woman? Nicely enough, her friend had not made the slightest remark about it – nor asked for any explanation – and she couldn't be more relieved because truth to be told, she had no answer to give.

The evening had been strange from the start. Cailin's friends' remarks – questions – had seemed to be wrapped up in a subtext that made her now slightly paranoid. Had she imagined everything? As if the young girls had tried to make her confess a thing or two, to highlight an idea she wasn't sure to properly understand.

And then there was Maura.

The medical examiner wasn't good at handling human relationships, Jane knew it. Her friend could adopt a singular behavior that one could easily mistake for something else. Was it what had actually happened to her? The honey blonde had looked enhanced – seductive – with the stranger. Which didn't make much sense. Since when was she interested in women?

Unless...

No. Jane shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the endless assumptions that were rushing to her mind. She should focus back on her job, the murder she had at hands. A double-murder case, to be more exact. Losing herself in what-ifs was vain.

Besides, it wasn't jealousy but a mere urge of protecting her friend. Just like a sister would take care of her sibling. Yes, it was exactly how she saw it: her only goal was to keep Maura away from any bad encounter.

"Rizzoli, in my office."

Cavanaugh's whisper floated in the air as he passed her desk without even stopping nor looking at her properly. Surprised, Jane stood up and followed her superior into his office. She closed the door behind her and accepted the seat he motioned in front of him.

"You've been in this building long enough to know what the BPD expects from its men, a sense of duty at work and discretion when it comes to their private life. What happens outside of these walls is none of my business and people are free to do whatever they want. Although there's an image to respect – the image of the BPD. Especially when you're in the middle of a case that is followed by the media and gets a big coverage..."

Completely lost, Jane didn't say a word. She was staring intently at her boss – unsure of what he was talking about – and watched how he took a newspaper out from a stack of papers before to put it right under her eyes. Moving uncomfortably on his armchair, Cavanaugh cleared his voice.

"And I'm not sure close-contact dancing with the Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts in a gay bar of Boston on a crowded Saturday is what I would include in the definition of discretion."

Astounded, Jane stared in disbelief at the pictures the tabloid had published. They were slightly blurry but still, one could easily picture her out holding Maura tight against her while the scientist's face was turned towards her cheek. From this angle, it seemed like they were kissing.

"_BPD's getting hot: Homicide detective Jane Rizzoli heating up "The Queen of the Dead", Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts Dr. Maura Isles. Temperature rises on the Styx."_

Unable to look at anything else but the juicy headlines, Jane swallowed hard and moaned; leaning her forehead against the palm of her hand. If media had already crossed the lines with her personal life, it was the first time that she ended up in a tabloid.

"Listen, I don't know nor care about the nature of your relation with Dr. Isles but you're at the head of an important case and showing yourself having fun around while two crimes happened isn't a very positive image for the BPD."

Jane shook her head and mortified, looked up at Cavanaugh.

"Maura and I aren't a couple! We're not dating! It's... It's bullshit! And we should sue them. It's like invasion of privacy! And... And... Oh my God! Maura is so gonna get hives."

Putting an abrupt end to the face-to-face conversation, Jane stood up and rushed out of her boss' office. The BPD was like a small village – a real microcosm – and she knew that it would not take a lot of time before her colleagues starting to make fun of her. Nobody would miss the tabloid paper.

She didn't mind much herself. As a female detective, she was used to the jokes; experience had taught her how to handle them. But Maura...

The elevator journey to the morgue seemed to last an eternity and as she finally reached the long hallway, Jane began to run down it only to stop abruptly when she stepped into her friend's office. Maura was sat at her desk – zen music playing in the background. Tabloid in hand.

The brunette swallowed hard and remained quiet, unsure of what she was supposed to say. Maura looked rather impassible as she locked her eyes with Jane's. The honey blonde finally broke the silence and sighing loudly, she frowned at her friend; obviously upset.

"You could have told me that this dress made me look like chubby."


	7. Drink It All Away

_**Author's note: thank you very much again for the reviews, they're much appreciated!**_

**Chapter Seven:**

Dropping her Louis Vuitton travel bag on the floor, Maura made a few steps towards the kitchen but stopped as she heard Cailin say her name. The young brunette was on the phone and seemed unaware of her older sister's presence in the room; a few steps behind her.

"The craziest thing is that they're so blind... Maura doesn't seem to see how Jane looks at her, the way she cares for her. It goes beyond friendship!"

The comment made the medical examiner blush. Quietly, she made a few steps backwards to hide against the entrance wall. From there, Hope's daughter wouldn't be able to see her yet the blonde would have no problem whatsoever to follow the conversation.

If the evening out at Sister Sorel had left a singular sensation on her Maura's mind at first, it had quickly vanished. As soon as the paper in the tabloid had been published, they all had rushed to bury what had suddenly looked more like a fiasco than anything else and everyone had moved on without ever alluding to it again; embarrassed or at least uncomfortable by the untold things highlighted in the article.

The difficult cohabitation with Cailin helping in the process.

They went from ups and downs; from moments of sweetness to heated arguments. The brunette was invasive, mistaking Maura's place for her very own house; inviting people over without asking before.

Perhaps the scientist was uptight – too authoritative – but her job was demanding and when she came back home after a long day at the BPD, the quietness of her house was all she was lusting after to finish the night.

"_Stay at my place, tonight. You need a break from this, Maur'."_

After a few seconds of hesitation, the honey blonde had accepted Jane's offer. As much as she feared what would become of her house if she left it in her sister's hands for a whole night, she had to recognize that the perspective of spending time with another adult who understood her was relieving enough.

"Anyway, would you mind lending me your notes from the Shakespeare class?"

Sensing that the conversation was finally taking another turn – less personal and oriented – Maura cleared her voice and stepped soundly in the kitchen to be noticed. Cailin turned around and hand on her phone, smiled at her sister.

"You're ready? Enjoy your evening and see you tomorrow. Angela said she'd stop by around 9pm so don't worry."

Still slightly unsure, Maura nodded – forced a smile – then grabbed her leather bag before leaving.

Within a second, the young brunette started giggling and - popping herself up on the counter – she focused back on her phone conversation.

"She heard it all. Perfect. Damn I would have never imagined it would be so easy..."

...

"You bit me! Oh..."

Stunned – her mouth wide open – Maura stared at the inside of her wrist before passing a finger over the red marks that Jane's teeth had left on her skin.

Soon enough, another roar of giggling got the best of her and she leaned her head backwards to abandon herself to pure laughter this time; the detective's own chuckles accompanying her obvious intoxicated state.

They had lost count of the glasses, of the bottles of beer they had emptied before attacking wine during dinner; soon followed by Tequila shots when the conversation had slid towards Cailin and college drinking games. Her friend being quite a novice on the subject, Maura had suggested they would try. Just to see. Except what was supposed to be a two-shot trial had suddenly turned into a whole binge drinking evening.

As her laughter subdued, the medical examiner opened her eyes. Her head still leaned backwards against the couch, she stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. Somehow, they had abandoned the sofa for the floor and were now stuck between it and the coffee table – glued to each other in some vain attempt to keep a minimal balance – while the bottle of Tequila laid on the floor.

"Okay... My turn!"

Precariously, Maura sat up – picked up a card from the deck on the coffee table – before turning it over to reveal the front. Jack of heart. A playful smile embraced her lips while Jane began to clap her hands. The scientist grabbed the salt in a very approximated gesture – chose a slice of lemon – and straddled her friend's left leg before pushing away her hair; accepting the bottle of alcohol in the process.

Without a word yet giggling hysterically, the brunette leaned her head on a side to give Maura more access to her neck where a few hickeys had already appeared.

"St-... Stop moving, Jane. I... I n-... Gotta focus!"

The blonde bit in the lemon – made a face as the acidity embraced her tongue – threw the slice in her back before plunging on her friend's neck where she had put some salt. Her lips made contact with Jane's warm skin; softly before them getting parted.

As the tip of her tongue touched the hot flesh, Maura squeezed her tights around Jane's leg and dug her nails in her friend's neck with her right hand while the other held the bottle of Tequila. She felt the brunette gasp – shiver – under her mischievous gesture. Subconsciously, she bent over to mold her body against Jane's and began to draw circles with her tongue to capture the salt in her mouth; the touch eliciting a moan from both of them. A last sucking motion and she crashed against the bottle to gulp down a new shot.

"Woohoo!"

Maura discarded the bottle on the floor and lifted her fist in victory, still clutched to Jane's neck in a very desperate attempt to keep a semblance of balance.

Unfortunately, her sudden gesture resulted a bit too brutal for the detective who slid and fell right on the floor; bringing Maura along as she grabbed her by the waist in her fall. A hysterical laughter wrapped them both as the blonde landed on top of her friend, her cheek against Jane's head.

The gesture didn't sober up the slightest least but made her jump and gasp of surprise. Immediately, Maura's eyes stared down at her friend in a confuse haze.

"What... What ya doin'?"

The brunette had licked her skin – there, between her breasts. A quick and single lapping eliciting a boiling turmoil in Maura's lower stomach. Very matter-of-factly, Jane shrugged. Unaware of the fact that her face was literally plunged in her friend's lowcut, she kept on staring there intently as if it were the most random thing to do in the world.

"You had salt, there. I j-... Just licked it off. Ain't it the game?"

The medical examiner posed and seemed to ponder her friend's question as if Jane had just asked to clear up a very existential point. After long seconds, Maura nodded in a sign of approval and sat back up; helping the brunette to do the same.

"It is! Ya right! See, you got how it worked. Ya genius."

Jane giggled; blushed.

"Ya know, Maur'... I gotta to tell ya... Ya were damn wrong about that dress. Ya don't look chubby in it. Ya... Ya g-... Got a nice ass!"

Too intoxicated to realize that Jane was alluding to her very own comment that had followed all the published pictures in the tabloid, the honey blonde brought her hand to her heart.

"Aw... That is so nice..."

Between slurred words and emphasized gestures, both women seemed to have fallen in a soft and bewitching moment. Nothing mattered much anymore. There was no case to solve, no sister to deal with. Nothing but the two of them carried away by the vapors of alcohol.

Eyes fixed on the coffee table, Maura passed her tongue over her lips. Shrugged.

"I love ya."

Jane gasped and – ecstatic – opened her arms to her friend who mimicked the gesture right away.

"I love ya too!"

They fell in each other's arms for a long hug - carried by their exhilarated reactions - but the gesture resulted one more time too brutal for their intoxicated minds and soon enough, they landed back on the floor; laughing away the glasses of alcohol.


	8. Life Is A Comedy

_**Author's note: thanks a lot again for the reviews!**_

**Chapter Eight:**

"You gave her a condom?!"

Looking disarmed, Maura shrugged at Jane and cast a glance behind her friend's shoulder to make sure that nobody was coming downstairs.

"A whole pack. I gave her a whole pack. It isn't as if I desperately need any lately, anyway."

The brunette smiled at the scientist's sarcastic remark and took a sip of her herbal tea. As much as Maura could be secretive at times, the medical examiner hadn't gone on a date for quite a while. Or at least she hadn't told Jane about it which the detective assumed equaled to the same.

The honey blonde sighed, rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on. She is nineteen years old, not twelve. What were you doing at her age? At least she is having the right behavior to adopt..."

Jane scoffed – blushed – but had to recognize that Maura was right. Cailin was an adult and even if she crossed the limits from time to time, she was a smart person. Someone who could be trusted.

"It's not that, Maur'. It's just... You don't mind her having sex in the room next door to yours? It's a bit odd, no?"

The scientist couldn't say that Cailin hadn't taken her aback when – while coming back home – she had asked her for a condom but soon enough, she had obliged and got over it. A matter of timing, perhaps. Since Hope's daughter had moved in with her, Maura's life had been taken in a whirl of incongruous scenes that were now flirting with a farce and added to the murder cases, she didn't have time to analyze everything properly.

Arguments aside, it seemed like college life had wrapped them up in its whirl: hitting bars, getting awfully drunk at night. Thinking about this last point, she readjusted her scarf and cleared her voice. She had awoken the day before with Jane lying between her legs, her head resting on her stomach while her arms were clutched to it as if it had been a pillow. Both lying on the floor; stuck between the couch and the coffee table, a bottle of Tequila by their side. Hickeys all over their neck and arms they were now desperately trying to hide under long sleeves and scarves.

"I prefer her to have sexual intercourse in a clean place rather than in some rickety shack hotel that not only doesn't really put you in the mood but is always a nest of bacterias for your body's fluids."

Jane made a face – obviously not delighted by such a share of information – yet her friend's point was fair enough and she was glad to see that Maura had finally handled a delicate situation over the cohabitation rather well.

Without noticing it, the medical examiner was slowly getting used to it.

"We're coming!"

Immediately, both women straightened up on the couch – discarded the pictures of the current case – and welcomed back Cailin and Megan with a smile. They had worked to do. The murder of both actresses had drastically slowed down, to the point they needed to study back all the elements from the very beginning.

"Here's the test. You have as much time as you need to answer the questions although, of course, the rapidity with which you fill the form counts in the results as well."

Slightly taken aback, both women accepted the sheet of paper that Megan was tending them. As she had passed the door with Cailin an hour earlier, the young girl had asked them to take part in a test driven by her human relation class; about friendship. Accepting it as a break from their difficult case, Jane and Maura had nicely obliged.

"By the way, how about your car?"

The medical examiner made a face at Cailin's question. As if waking up on Jane's apartment floor hadn't been enough, her Prius had refused to start when she had wanted to go back home. After a good look at it, the conclusions had been cleared: the engine was dead, for a reason nobody could really explain.

"It will take two weeks... The mechanics had no car to lend me so I will have to rent one. There is no way I multiply near death experiences everyday while Jane's driving me around in the meantime."

The detective scoffed – offended – but didn't have time to reply as Megan focused back on the test. What had happened to Maura's car was a complete mystery to everyone yet now the blonde depended on Jane even more than the usual.

"Okay so... Basic questions first: your name, date of birth, approximated date you both met and the moment you consider as the turning point in your relation that made of you friends. Then the second part is to see how well you know each other from what the other one likes doing on a rainy day to the fragrance she wears. And finally... The last part is about the way you would describe your friendship; what you expect from it and what makes you think it's unique. Any question?"

Maura and Jane shook their head, amused by such prospect. It was a light parenthesis from their daily life and even if it would probably only take them a few minutes, there was something intriguing about it that stirred up their competitive spirit.

"Ten bucks I finish it before you."

The detective's comment made Maura smirk. She grabbed a pen – settled on the couch – and rose a playful eyebrow before locking her eyes with Jane's.

"In your dreams... Deal."

…

"Now that's... Interesting."

Megan's remark finally broke the long wait that had followed the test. As planned, it had not taken them long to answer the questions and they had given back the paper exactly at the same time. Abandoning the kitchen island to settle back around the coffee table with Jane and Maura, Cailin and her friend slid the results under both women's eyes.

"Off category? Why are we off category? We didn't cheat!"

Suddenly, Megan's features deepened in seriousness as she looked up at Jane to give a proper answer to the question.

"Symbiotic relation. You're in full symbiosis with each other to the point it goes beyond friendship; or at least the definition scientists give of it. You know absolutely everything from each other, share the same expectations and actually used the exact same words to describe it. Words and feelings that have little to do with what average friends would go for. It's a very exclusive relation. Don't be worried it isn't unhealthy but you aren't friends. You're basically in a relationship except it's a non-sexual one... Have you guys ever thought about dating?"

Megan's casual – almost innocent – question got welcomed by a very heavy silence. For a moment, Jane stared at her with perplexity; not daring to move and even less look at Maura who seemed so still next to her on the couch. The brunette swallowed hard and tried to ignore the heat she could feel up her cheeks. If people often addressed them as a single entity, they knew that they weren't dating nor planning to. It didn't match their sexual orientation and they weren't attracted to each other sexually. They simply shared a strong, very strong friendship.

"Wait... Maybe... Maybe we should do this test all over again. I mean... Something must have gone wrong."

Megan shook her head vehemently before picking up the sheet of paper.

"Absolutely not! Your answers are correct, I hardly see how you could change this. You filled it instinctively. The results are extremely interesting, besides. For science... Let's face it, your relation is different from the norm. You were even right to the question over Maura's favorite position in bed to fall asleep and the gesture that soothed her by then. I don't invent it...! It isn't something friends are able to say about each other, I'm sorry."

Disarmed and slightly embarrassed, Jane cast a brief glance at the honey blonde by her side. She had hidden herself behind her mug of tea and looked as confused as the detective.

After their Tequila night, both women had decided to slow down on alcohol for a bit but as Jane looked back at Cailin and Megan, she began to wonder if her next beer wouldn't come sooner than expected.


	9. Wishes Don't Come True

_**Author's note: Thank you very much for all your reviews, it's always a pleasure to read them.**_

**Chapter Nine:**

The cobblestones were damp; whatever was left of the rain making the buildings and the streets shine like a thousand diamonds around. Hands in the pockets of her jacket, Maura smiled to nobody but herself. She had always loved the city by then, at this time of the year when the leaves of the trees slowly adopted the delicate shades of the fall and melancholy seemed to spread over in a quiet, restful silence.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

She could have recognized Jane's low voice anywhere. Turning on her heels, the medical examiner froze and looked at the brunette in disbelief.

Jane had rarely been so elegant, in a dark blue knee-length dress and matching stilettos; her hair up in a classic bun that highlighted her graceful features. Impeccable makeup.

"I see that these shopping lessons are finally paying off... Too bad Cailin won't see it."

Hope's daughter had invited them for dinner at Mamma Maria, an intimate Italian restaurant in the North End. But at the last minute, the student had canceled her presence there – for having some assignment to finish with a friend – and had insisted on the fact that Jane and Maura still could go. One more time, this new week of cohabitation had been everything but peaceful and it was Cailin's way to apologize for the inconvenience she had caused.

"It doesn't change anything to the fact I'm starving. Can we go in before it starts raining again?"

Nodding, Maura grabbed her friend's arm and together, they turned around on the small square to step inside the restaurant.

As a delicious smell of homemade bread welcomed them, the medical examiner thanked her sister in silence for such an idea. After an exhausting work week, the quiet atmosphere – slightly romantic if she had to be honest – of the place brought serenity to her mind. Sat at a table for two by one of the windows, she grabbed the menu and looked up at Jane.

"Do you think that we will make some tabloid headlines again after tonight?"

The detective laughed. It was the first time that they alluded to the incident but somehow, she was relieved to see that Maura hadn't taken it too bad either.

Suddenly, the image of her friend at the bar – chatting with the other woman – crawled back in her mind and made her swallow hard. The honey blonde had been engaging, that night. It was undeniable.

Had she simply let herself carry away by the excitement of an evening out at a trendy bar or there was another reason that laid deeper within her? Jane would never ask. She would never dare to. If Maura didn't say anything then she assumed that there was nothing to ask about.

Not that the idea of her friend dating a woman was incongruous. As a matter of fact, the brunette could easily picture it out.

"What are you thinking about?"

The question – even if softly asked – took her out of her wonders and offering a genuine smile to Maura, Jane shrugged it away; pressing her friend's hand in a gesture of reassurance.

"Nothing special. I'm just... I'm just happy to be here with you, tonight. It was an excellent idea."

Shades of red rushed up the medical examiner's cheeks. She wasn't used to getting compliments. And it was the exact reason why she cherished all of these moments with Jane, considered herself lucky enough to have found someone who – no mattered what – would always be there; like a guardian angel looking after her.

The dinner went smoothly, carried away by laughter and fluid conversations. They didn't mention their current case – didn't allude to work a single time. They needed a break from it; if only a few hours far from the abruptness of their daily routine. Just a reminder that life could also be sweet; fortunate enough.

As they stepped back outside, a thin drizzle was falling over the city again; silencing Boston in the night, bringing it a singular shade of lights. Music was playing from one of the old buildings on the small square; up above, coming from an upper floor. The notes of a saxophone accompanying the end of the evening.

"I didn't take an umbrella with me."

Maura shrugged at her friend's remark, obviously not bothered by the rain drops falling around. It had been a long time since she had spent such a nice evening far from the craziness of her house.

"It is only water, we shouldn't melt... It reminds me of London. When I was a child and my mother used to make me twirl around in the light rain until I lost balance and fell down on the grass."

One of the rare moments of complicity she actually remembered sharing with her mother. Timidly, the reminiscence made her smile before a wave of boldness pushed her to grab Jane's hand.

Not really thinking it twice, Maura smiled at her friend.

"Twirl. Twirl around."

The unexpected request – slightly out of character – surprised Jane but she obeyed nonetheless, playing along; ready to do anything to make this evening last a bit longer. Soon enough, she was twirling around in the rain.

Eyes closed, laughing away the sweet innocence emanating from the gesture.

She got wrapped into the speed of the movement and lost her balance only to fall in Maura's arms in a rear of laughter; their voices melting together in a singular melody echoing the music. She opened her eyes back and locked them with the honey blonde's. Breathless – an exhilarated smile on her lips – the scientist looked at her without saying a word.

For long seconds they remained still in the arms of each other; their faces a mere inches apart, the warmth of their respective breath embracing softly their skin damped by the rain.

And then it made sense. Just like that, within a second. As if something had snapped in Maura's head. She thought about the last weeks – all the things that had happened – these details Cailin had brought to the surface if only implicitly. Everything. Leading to older memories, sensations that had – somehow, by then – passed unnoticed.

Her hand slid on Jane's neck as she bent over to capture her lips in a kiss. Feeling her friend gasp under the unexpected gesture, Maura gave more strength to the rather timid embrace; savoring the softness of the brunette's lips, fresh from the rain.

Her heart was beating loud in her chest as she let her tongue slide mischievously on the detective's mouth; asking implicitly for more.

She deepened the kiss – her moan echoing Jane's as something began to boil in her lower stomach, stirred up by the intimate tangling of their tongues - and crossed the lines.

"No!"

Jane suddenly pushed her away, rather abruptly. For a few seconds, Maura stared at her feet, a bit breathless from the kiss. Why she finally looked up – she had no idea – but she regretted it as soon as she came to face the mock of horror that had embraced her friend's features. Confused and shocked, the brunette shook her head and made a step backwards. A harsh one.

…

11.30pm. Impatient, Cailin sighed loudly and straightened up on the couch for the hundredth time within a minute. What were they doing, exactly? Unless the romantic atmosphere of the restaurant had paid off so well that Maura and Jane had rushed to the nearest hotel to spend the night there.

Mamma Maria was the ultimate Boston spot for a date – intimate and cozy enough – that couldn't but work wonderfully on both women. Of course, Hope's daughter had never had the intention to go there herself.

Pretending a last-minute change of event had been a piece of cake and without knowing it, Maura and Jane had found themselves settled on a date.

Finally, the door opened; making Cailin jerk up. Maura entered in silence. She was soaked wet, her hair stuck to her cheeks in a ruin of perfect curls. Without a word, she hung her jacket by the door and made a few steps until she noticed her sister on the couch.

As she looked up at her, Cailin swallowed hard and felt how her heart began to beat faster. The honey blonde's makeup had run down her face; not carried along by rain drops but tears that kept on filling her eyes in a bitter silence. Without a word, the scientist turned around and took the stairs up leading to the first floor.

What had happened? For the first time, Cailin felt terribly anxious if not just scared. She didn't dare to move from her seat; not knowing what to do. Not that she assumed that Maura would come back down to give an explanation but still, the unexpected turn of events was starting to weigh on her.

"Oh, come on!"

Groaning to nobody but herself, the young brunette stood up and headed upstairs. The floor was deadly silent; in the dark except for a dim light coming from Maura's bedroom. Slowly, Cailin went to push the door and frowned at the scene. Her sister was huddled in bed, her sobs echoing way too loud in the room.

With apprehension, Hope's daughter approached the bed and carefully laid on it; waiting for the slightest sign from Maura.

It didn't take for the honey blonde a long time to turn around and fall in her arms; her heartbroken confession buried in her cries.

"She doesn't want me."


	10. It Is My Fault

_**Author's note: Thank you very much for all the reviews...!**_

**Chapter Ten:**

Cailin stopped by the edge of the bed and looked down at the small form huddled under the large blanket. Biting her lower lip, she rolled her eyes and tried to sweep away the oppressive sensation that hadn't left her since Maura had come back home in tears the evening before.

"You have to eat something."

Her voice had sounded soft enough – almost timid – in the cold silence of the room. Lost against a mountain of pillows, the honey blonde shook her head; kept on staring at the wall in front of her.

"I am not hungry."

If the scientist hadn't given details about what had happened, Cailin didn't need any either. Things were clear enough. For whatever reason, Jane had pushed Maura away and everything had simply crashed. Harshly.

"Then a bath. A bath and a tea. Let me prepare you a bath and a tea. Something warm. You can't stay in bed for the rest of your life."

Jane needed time. Deep inside, Hope's daughter knew it. It couldn't go any other way, she refused to believe it. They were made for each other and had already crossed the lines, subconsciously. It was impossible for them to come backwards. Without saying a word, Maura shrugged before a nod – a fragile one – answered her sister's offer. Immediately, the brunette went to fill the tub and brew some tea.

…

Eyes closed, Maura leaned her head backwards and tried to relax; to enjoy the heat of the water on her icy body. The scent of the bubbles, their soft caresses against her skin. She hadn't slept much the night before; too shaken up. Too lost. All of a sudden, she had realized that she was in love only to see herself being turned down abruptly. Perhaps she had been too direct, too frank in her gestures. But still... Jane didn't want. It was as simply as it hurt.

A soft knock on the door made her sit up. Cailin sneaked her head in and – a warm smile playing on her lips – she entered the bathroom carrying two mugs of tea. Maura accepted one but didn't take a sip immediately.

Instead, she kept on holding it; staring intently at the dark beverage.

"You know, perhaps she just needs some time."

Sat on the floor against the tub – turning her back at her sister – Cailin's voice filled the room in an awkward manner. The young student was surprised. She hadn't imagined that Jane would do that.

Until then, everything had gone as planned and it had been so easy, almost too expected. Perhaps she should have been more careful, should have taken her time.

"No... I... I scared her. I took her aback. She isn't... I am not... This is humiliating."

Maura's voice broke and as she took a deep – loud – breath to push away her tears, Cailin bit her lower lip, frowned. She felt guilty. What if she had screwed up everything?

As much as she didn't want to think about it, such possibility was slowly crawling in her mind. Little by little.

"It's my fault... The gay bar, the restaurant, the test, the issue with your car... My annoying behavior and all the rest... I did it on purpose. Everything was calculated to make you both become an item. I thought it would work out. You might not realize it but you are made for each other... Life's short and you're missing it all for... What? Conventionalism? She's in love with you, just as you are in love with her. So I... I don't know. I simply assumed that all you needed was a little help to figure it out... And now you hate me, don't you?"

As much as she was turning her back at her, Cailin could feel how Maura had frozen in her bath. It all came up suddenly; too many things to handle. But the confession had slid on her lips without her to ever have a chance to hold it back.

As if honesty always had to win at some point - no mattered what - and was proving it again right now.

For long seconds, nobody spoke. The house was dead silent for a Saturday afternoon. Too cold. As Maura took a sip of her tea, she made a face. The drink was too bitter. Too strong.

"I hate living in denial..."

She wasn't mad at Cailin. She couldn't. As much as the game had been cruel, she still preferred to know where she stood. Most of people wouldn't have understood such decision but at least it was all clear in her head, now. Blurry lines had vanished and no mattered how painful reality could be, it was still better than the confusion she had lost herself into for so long.

Finally relaxing a bit, she closed her eyes again and leaned her head backwards against the tub. Let a sigh pass her lips.

And now?

…

Politely, Cailin turned down Jane's coffee offer and sat – slightly intimidated – on the couch of the detective's living-room. She hadn't imagined that the apartment would look like this. As a matter of fact and now that she thought about it, Hope's daughter realized that she had never really pictured it out properly in her head. Everything surrounding Jane had remained blurry. Always.

"It's about Maura, isn't it?"

She had left her sister – pretending the urge to run a few errands – only to find Jane in the exact same poor state: livid, her eyes tired and red. Miserable. Perhaps she shouldn't have come there. After all, she had done enough damage to both women but deep inside she still held hopes; felt the truth burn too strong to ever let it go. She had messed it up and she would assume it; would do her best to bring it all back together without it being too fragile.

"She loves you. She's in love with you, just as you're in love with her. Except it takes guts, doesn't it? She hasn't even managed to ever tell you that she liked women... While you're the only person on this planet who has importance to her eyes. The only one who really counts. Do what you want, Jane. It's your life, and Maura's... All I know is that I've never seen her so sad when she should be the happiest one."

Jane hadn't sat down. Instead, she had remained awkwardly leaned against her fireplace; twisting her hands nervously. As Cailin looked up at her, the detective immediately focused on a point to avoid the young girl's gaze.

"Don't tell me you don't love her."

Jane scoffed, rolled her eyes. She wasn't nervous but terribly exhausted; emotionally. As she had come back from the restaurant – after the unexpected kiss – she had sat on her couch and remained still for long hours. Fixing a point right in front of her. Unable to analyze the mere thing. If she had hoped that time would make it easier, she had been wrong because she was still plunged in the same state of confusion right now.

"I've never said such a thing..."

A pale smile lit up Cailin's features. It might have been a whisper and an implicit confession, it was still there; somewhere in Jane's head, in her heart.

"Then what are you afraid of?"

The detective's dark eyes stopped on the student but soon enough she preferred to stare down at the floor. She missed Maura. She hated the way she had run away from her the night before and knowing she was now in pain was unbearable. All she felt like doing was to take her in her arms and reassure her; telling her that everything would be alright.

Except she couldn't. She couldn't do that.

"I don't know."

And she hated herself for that. All of a sudden, the tears she had managed to hold back filled her eyes and she began to cry in silence. She was utterly lost and lonely. Cold. As if her life had just decided to stop making sense and all the elements she had taken as references had vanished within a second only to leave her there with a precarious balance.

She hadn't seen it coming.


	11. A World Of Silence

_**Author's note: thank you so, so much for all the reviews. It's really a pleasure to read them!**_

**Chapter Eleven:**

Maura grabbed the door knob and cast a last glance at the living-room plunged in the dark. Cailin had retreated to her room in order to study a few minutes earlier and fearing the coldness of her bed, the medical examiner was taking her time downstairs; watching a documentary about the ocean life.

She wouldn't go to work on the very next day. She didn't have the courage to do so. Facing Jane would be utterly humiliating and she needed time to get over it.

A break came in handy. Anyway, she had plenty of days off to take.

Intrigued by the presence of a visitor at such a late hour of the night, the honey blonde opened the door then froze. Jane was standing on the frame, Jo Friday by her feet. Immediately, the dog came in – brushed Maura's ankles – carried away by an old habit.

For a few seconds, the brunette wondered why men's life couldn't be as easy as the one of dogs; why they had to talk, to analyze the slightest thing before losing themselves in a thousand situations that prevented them from seizing the day properly.

"Can I come in?"

A timid nod welcomed her question.

"You know this place is as much mine as it is yours... Do you want some tea?"

Closing back the door behind her, Maura headed straight to the kitchen where the only dim light had been turned on and focused back on the beverages; her whisper floating around.

Would Jane ever guess that she had spent the whole day in her pajamas? She wasn't wearing makeup – her hair hung loosely in a bun. She looked tired.

"Octopus?"

The detective accepted the mug but discarded it immediately on the coffee table as Maura joined her on the couch and sat by her side. The blonde shrugged, watching the television in the dark.

"It is soothing, peaceful."

Jane focused back on the screen and let herself carry away by the depths of the ocean; the fluidity of the octopus' movements. It looked like a ballet of some sort. An odd, graceful choreography in a world of silence.

"I am sorry. I shouldn't have... I don't know why I did... That. I... Can we just forget about it?"

Maura's voice had resounded fragile enough in the dark, full of despair and vain hopes. For long seconds, Jane didn't say a word.

After a weekend spent thinking over and over about it – torn and in pain – her friend's plea was taking her aback; stealing the ounce of courage she had found to go to the honey blonde's house and push everything aside.

She hadn't come to draw a line under it. On the contrary.

Swallowing hard, she turned her face around and looked at Maura; how a veil of discomfort seemed to have wrapped up her delicate features.

"Of course."

It hurt saying so. Something burned in her throat – weighed on her heart – and all of a sudden, she felt a whole series of what-ifs crash down. She didn't want to forget it. She didn't want any kind of apologies. It was scaring – she felt utterly lost – but still... She didn't want to come backwards.

Her hand slid on Maura's neck – making the honey blonde gasp of surprise – and without adding a word, the brunette planted a kiss on her friend's cheek.

A long, eager one. Flirting with despair and a thousand things she didn't manage to say out loud.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to my life, Maura... And there is no way..."

Her voice broke. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her eyes and shook her head before looking for her friend's gaze. Unable to break contact with the medical examiner, her hand had remained there; in the depths of Maura's neck.

Feeding itself of the body's warmth. Of the life that emanated from it.

"There is no way I lose that."

Before the veil of confusion that had embraced Jane's gaze, Maura didn't say a word but frowned. She was lost, utterly lost. On the verge of panic as she watched her friend bend over slowly for an inevitable kiss.

Perhaps she should have pushed her away, just as the detective had done two days before on that square in the North End. Perhaps she should have showed more strength and put an end to it before it being too late.

But she didn't move and let her do instead. Then welcomed Jane's soft lips against hers in a stifled gasp of despair and relief; her hand clutched to her friend's forearm to make sure that it wasn't just a dream.

…

Half-asleep, Cailin took the stairs down to the kitchen. It was 1.30am and if she hadn't forgotten to take a bottle of water with her before going to bed a couple of hours earlier, she wouldn't have had to get up in the middle of the night to cross a house plunged in the dark. Quiet and focused on the floor, she suddenly stopped as her foot came in contact with a warm surface. It wasn't the hardwood floor but something else.

A cushion.

This is when she noticed the sounds. Stifled, they came from the couch a couple of feet in front of her. Her curiosity peaked, Hope's daughter looked up at the source of the noises only to freeze. Mouth wide open.

Jane and Maura were sitting there facing each other, naked. Their legs intertwined while their bodies moved in unison - molded against each other - to a pace led by their caresses; driven by their long sighs and deep kisses.

The blonde's head had disappeared in her friend's neck while her hand – plunged between the brunette's legs – seemed to dictate Jane's reactions that matched Maura's own movements against the detective's thigh.

Clutched to her partner – her nails digging in her back – Jane suddenly threw her head backwards, revealing a pale neck in the darkness of the night; the fixed image of the end of a documentary on television embracing her skin of its pale, blue light.

Unable to move, Cailin remained still for long seconds until reality hit her back and embarrassed, she turned on her heels to go back upstairs quietly; hoping desperately that she would keep on passing unnoticed.

Back to her bedroom and to a world full of light, the young student sat up on her bed; a smile playing on her lips. She was the first one surprised by the turn the events had taken considering what had happened on Friday night. But as realization was slowly kicking in, something warm spread over her: the sweet taste of victory. She had been right since the very beginning and her stubbornness had finally paid off.

Excited, she grabbed her cell phone and wrote down a message to Megan.

"_My sister's going at it with Jane in the living-room!"_

In spite of the late hours of the night, Cailin's friend replied almost immediately.

"_May I join them?"_

The brunette rolled her eyes – giggling – before dialing Megan's number for a conversation she couldn't wait to share with half of the world.


	12. Can I Be Your Type?

_**Author's: I love reading your reviews, thank you very much for posting them!**_

**Chapter Twelve:**

"Now that's what I call a busy weekend... I assume the "Jane And Maura Mission" is now over?"

Biting into her sandwich, Cailin shook her head at Chloe and had a look around at the cafeteria of the campus; crowded on lunch break. As she saw Molly pass the door, the brunette waved at her in order her friend to join them.

"As much as I saw more than I was asking for, when I went downstairs for breakfast this morning, the house was back to normal. In spite of grinning like an idiot and sporting very messy hair, Maura told me that Jane wasn't there. But she blushed like crazy and panicked when I asked her about it so I had to pretend I had heard her arrive in the evening. I couldn't tell her that I had walked in on them in the middle of... Well... You know."

Molly and Chloe giggled while picturing out the scene in their head. They had got the news in the first hours of the morning and had rushed to campus, eager for more details about the whole story.

"They slept together, it's awesome. But the mission is about commitment and being together. And by that, I mean them to assume they are a couple. Not playing hide-and-seek with everybody."

Molly pouted, playing with her own sandwich.

"Fair enough but they might just need time to process the whole thing. Although It could be funny to keep up the Machiavellian plans you've set of so far. It's highly entertaining. What did Maura tell you exactly when you mentioned Jane?"

A few students sat down at the table next to theirs but the brouhaha being such, Cailin didn't mind much and kept on talking as if she were alluding to the most random subject in the world.

"That they were fine. That they had talked and they were back to being okay. I'm sure with the passing of time they'd get to it but considering the way they are, it wouldn't happen before 2020. Nah... They need help, again."

Discarding an empty tray, Chloe frowned then shrugged.

"Are you sure it's reasonable after what happened on Friday night? What if it makes more damage than good, in the end? I mean... They had sex and are probably at the very start of their relation. It is a very precarious stage. The mere mistake and it can be over within a second."

A reassuring smile embraced Cailin's features. All the fears she had had over the weekend hadn't lasted. As much as she had found the context rather embarrassing, the moment she had seen her sister with Jane on the couch of the living-room, a strong wave of certainty had wrapped her up and there was no way she wouldn't do her best to push these two in the direction they belonged to.

"No. It isn't reasonable. But who said life was, anyway?"

...

Maura accepted the mug of pumpkin coffee that the waitress brought her and cuddled against the large couch in front of the fireplace.

As planned – and in spite of the previous night events – the medical examiner had taken a day off. Anyway, she wouldn't have been able to focus much on any autopsy whatsoever. Once Jane had left in the early hours of the morning, she had gone to bed dragged by such effervescence that she had kept on staring at the ceiling; her eyes wide opened.

A silly grin on her face that hadn't left her since then.

Subconsciously, she passed a finger over her lips; still swollen from Jane's kisses. An odd feeling warmed up her lower stomach and curling her toes in her shoes, the honey blonde approached the mug from her mouth; the foam caressing softly her face.

It had been perfect. Sweet. Intense. Delicate. Hypnotized by the flames dancing in the fireplace of the coffee store, Maura hid her smile behind the large mug she was holding. She had spent the whole morning daydreaming before finally indulging in a walk through Beacon Hill. Chin up in an invisible defiance, she had smiled at Boston; the chilly air of October embracing her red cheeks.

Could the other passers-by guess what laid behind the sparkling in her hazel eyes? Could they all assume that she was in love and had spent the night in a woman's arms, shivering under her touch?

"Hi..."

The low voice took her out of the reminiscence and barely hiding a smile, she turned around to look up at Jane who had arrived. Immediately, the honey blonde stood up. Hand on the detective's arm, she bent over for a kiss but stopped – remembering the tabloid headlines published a bit earlier - before finally planting a timid one on Jane's cheek.

The brunette discarded her coat and sat by her side on the large couch; close. Her fingers hidden by their folded legs, intertwined with the scientist's. A silly grin was lighting up her features.

"I took my afternoon. I just... I just couldn't focus on anything. We don't have any new lead anyway. We're totally stuck on that case... How are you doing?"

With boldness, Jane caressed Maura's cheek before taking some distance as the waitress arrived with her drink. The gesture made the medical examiner smile softly. She knew what the brunette was going through for having lived it herself a long time ago.

It wasn't easy to suddenly wake up one day only to realize that what you had taken for inalienable references in your life had flown away as soon as you had kissed someone.

"I remember the day that had followed the first time I... Had been intimate with a woman. And all the feelings that had come within it."

Slightly surprised by Maura's timid confession, Jane appreciated it; took a sip of her coffee.

"How was it?"

The scientist shrugged – fixed a point somewhere in the flames – and frowned before biting her lip.

"Troubling. Too much..."

The answer wasn't necessarily what the brunette had expected although she recognized herself in the first part of it. Vaguely. The morning had been strange, full of questions that had remained a tad bare; unanswered.

Something had changed in her life – something important enough – and if she could feel it herself, how about the others? Could they see it as well?

"What happened?"

Maura made a face and moved nervously on the couch.

"I dumped her. Too scared. Too young to assume it, maybe... I was sixteen."

Restraining the urge to comment her surprise, Jane took another sip of her coffee. If Maura hadn't told her in the first place that she had already dated women – but Cailin had, secretly enough – she had assumed that after the night spent together, it was fair enough to let the blonde understand her previous experiences had been obvious. Especially compared to her own awkwardness.

As she thought about it, Jane blushed and looked aside; clearing her voice.

"I'm sorry I... You're the first... You know... I'm sorry I didn't properly... Err... Touch you... Down there...?"

A wave of heat rushed up her cheeks and for the thousandth time within a minute, the detective hid behind her mug of coffee. The night had been intimidating enough – carried away by the singularity of the first times – but truth to be told, she had let Maura guide her all along; responding to it with a shy instinct.

A mischievous smile played on the medical examiner's lips and taking a sip while watching the flames in the fireplace, she shrugged; matter-of-factly.

"You lent me your thigh. That was very nice in itself."

Jane choked on her hot beverage and shook her head. Not caring much about the rest of the room and the customers of the earthy style coffee store, she passed a hand around Maura's waist then rested her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"Of all times, this is now you decide to practice your witty sense of humor, Maur? Well done, really. Well done."

For long minutes, none of them talked. Focused on the fireplace, they sipped their coffee in silence enjoying the peaceful cuddling on the couch. Moving slightly, Jane planted a stolen kiss on Maura's shoulder.

"Can I be your type, now?"

The question made the scientist frown and laugh lightly. Shaking her head, she looked down at her partner and waited for the required explanation.

"A few years ago, you told me that I wasn't your type because I couldn't relax. Now, you see... I can relax; in your arms. As a matter of fact, I'd love staying here with you for the rest of my life."

Maura blushed at such confession. She hadn't assumed that Jane would be like that; so attentive and sweet with her significant one. Not finding the right words to accompany the brunette's ones, she cupped the detective's face before capturing her lips in a light kiss. Who cared about potential tabloids?

"Oh... One more question, Maur'..."

Rising an eyebrow, the medical examiner waited patiently for her partner to make things clear.

"With this whole thing going on, does it mean we have to ditch The Dirty Robber for Sister Sorel, now?"

A playful smile lit up Jane's features, soon echoed in Maura's eyes.


	13. Just Another Sunday

_**Author's note: thank you again for all your reviews, I'm really glad you're enjoying reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it.**_

**Chapter Thirteen:**

Her fingers grabbed the red negligee – the silk sliding up along her bare skin – but as the door of the bathroom stormed open, Maura stopped in her tracks and pulled back down her top before turning around to look at her visitor. Coffee in hand, Jane entered and locked them both in the room; a mock of slight panic on her face.

"My mother has just found my bra under one of the cushions on the couch."

The honey blonde's giggle subdued rather fast as she realized that the situation didn't make Jane laugh that much then stared at the door behind the detective as if she could picture Angela out on the other side of it.

A week had passed by – barely one – since they had kissed on the couch and made a step towards another stage in their relation. An intense week, at work and in private. But somehow it was still new and they didn't feel the urge to make anything official yet.

It was enticing to keep it secret if only for a while; and relaxing enough. At least they didn't have to answer people's expectations but only their very own ones.

"How did she guess it was yours and not mine?"

The scientist's question didn't seem to find any specific echo in Jane's head who simply rolled her eyes, highlighting the idea that the answer was logical enough. Fidgeting her BPD shirt, she motioned at her partner's negligee with her head.

"A comparative study isn't really necessary on the matter, Maura. I guess it's pretty obvious right from the start that we don't wear the same size... We need to be more careful, this ain't good."

A smirk formed on the blonde's lips. She was amused thinking about the scene she had just missed. In a fluid movement, she reduced the distance that separated her from Jane then passed her arms around her partner's waist. Her lips crashed on the brunette's neck and soon enough, she began to play with the sensitive skin there.

"What did you tell her?"

The detective swallowed hard as Maura's fingers passed under her shirt to brush her stomach.

At times, she wondered how a mere decision – a simple kiss – could have set off so many feelings; just like that, within a second. A snap of fingers. Something had obviously been lying there for a long time but not to the point the medical examiner's touch had put her in such a state before.

"Jo Friday. I said Jo Friday had probably taken it from my gym bag before abandoning it there on the couch and... Damn, Maura! Are you listening to me?"

The explanation given by the detective had been enough for the honey blonde to discard the shirt and the pajamas pants from her partner who now laid naked in front of her; at the mercy of her lips and hands. A moan came to answer Jane's question; its echo vibrating against her shoulder blade.

"We're going at it like rabbits! Maybe we should..."

The brunette's sentence got interrupted by a kiss, a deep one that captured her lips eagerly. As Maura broke apart, she locked her eyes with Jane's and rose a mischievous eyebrow.

"You didn't seem to mind much about it a couple of hours ago..."

Without waiting for an answer, the scientist grabbed the brunette by the waist and pushed her into the shower before discarding her own clothes and stepping in as well. She turned on the water.

…

"I'm just saying that you could be a bit more respectful. This isn't your place but Maura's. There's no need to turn it into the giant mess you usually live in."

Jane grabbed a slice of bread and bit into it to prevent the words from sliding on her lips. Sunday lunches at the scientist's place had – somehow – turned into a tradition and for once, she wouldn't give into her mother's attempts to get on her nerves. Apparently, the bra episode – earlier in the morning – hadn't been closed yet and now the whole table could enjoy it.

"Same for the water. If you hadn't been so lazy and taken too much time in the shower, Cailin would have had hot water!"

The comment made Jane blush. She hadn't planned on staying more than three minutes under the shower but it had been without counting on Maura's very persuasive temper. Oddly, neither Cailin nor Angela had made any comment when they had both screamed; surprised by a sudden icy water running on their respective body. Their reaction had made it clear that they had been taking a shower together, though.

"It is okay, Angela. I had taken a shower at Molly and Chloe's anyway."

Smiling politely at Jane's mother, the young girl cast an amused glance at the scene. If she had not spent the night at Maura's – exceptionally – she still had come back to the Beacon Hill house on time to work on her plan.

"Your friends are roommates? This is nice to share a rent when in college. Do you remember when you lived with this girl for a few months, Jane? When you went to the academy."

Hope's daughter opened wide eyes as she turned around to look at the detective. Did Jane hold some secrets about her past experiences?

"Chloe and Molly aren't roommates. They are together, in a relationship."

Cailin bit the inside of her mouth to repress a satisfactory smile. Eager to see Angela's reaction to the news, she straightened on her seat and kept on eating; an eye on Jane and Maura.

"Oh. I'm sorry I had simply assumed they shared an apartment like many students."

The detective's mother didn't seem bothered the slightest bit, opposed to her daughter and the scientist who – very quietly – kept on staring down at their plate intently. Cailin smiled.

"Their parents are very supportive and helped them move in together a few months ago."

All of a sudden, the young student felt her sister's heavy gaze on her. Not intimidated at all, Cailin even turned around to look at her properly; almost in defiance, implicitly. Perhaps the conversation was hitting a sensitive spot for Maura who seemed to insist on keeping for herself her sexual orientation.

Did her parents even know about it? Hope's daughter swallowed hard, a tad indecisive.

"And you, Angela? Would you be supportive too if one of your children were in a same-sex relationship?"

Maura cleared her voice – drawing all the attention on her when she had just hoped to lead the lunch conversation to another direction – and forced a smile. She had nothing to say, even less to add.

"Of course, Cailin. All I want is my children to be happy. Sure, it would make the neighborhood gossip but who cares? I don't live there anymore, anyway... I was very supportive when Frankie's longtime girlfriend dumped him for her best female friend."

Obviously unaware of such story, Jane gasped as a grin appeared on her lips. Immediately, Maura pressed the brunette's hand to stop her. In vain.

"What? Who? Which one? And how come nobody ever told me about it?"

Not minding much about Frankie's presence on the other end of the table nor the fact she had just revealed what seemed to be a secret, Angela shrugged at her daughter very matter-of-factly.

"Belinda Di Sabatino."

A cheerleader in high school. The epitome of femininity and popularity. The typical girl who went from one guy to another. Jane burst out laughing, delighted by the extremely unexpected news.

"Coffee, anyone?"

In all discretion, Maura passed a hand under the table and pressed Jane's knee. Within a second, she felt the brunette's fingers caress her thumb; the back of her hand. She would get used to all these gestures; too soon, too quickly. Their sweetness would soothe her whenever she would need it and one day she would wake up only to realize that she was addicted to the whole thing.

For a brief second, Jane looked at her and smiled peacefully.

If nobody had been around, the medical examiner would have bent over for a kiss; her lover's arms around her frame. A quiet Sunday afternoon cuddled on the couch by the fireplace.

"I am going to make some coffee for you but I guess that Jane and I will have some at the farm. It is already 3pm and the pumpkin fair is an hour away by car."

An hour away by car from the crowd - the possibility to walk hand in hand without fearing anyone.

In all anonymity.


	14. It Is Different With Maura

_**Author's note: thank you again for all your reviews... It's really nice of you and a pleasure for me to read them, really. And don't be worried, there'll be a lot of "Cailin" in the next chapters, as well as her relation to Maura.**_

**Chapter Fourteen:**

"The only thing I remember about Milady is that she's some sort of a bitch."

In spite of the gloomy situation, the remark made Maura smile; if only timidly. She abandoned on her desk the files she had been holding and nodded at Jane.

"It is one way to sum up the character..."

While they had been on the verge of assuming that the murders of both actresses weren't linked at all – in spite of the parallelisms between them – and they might have had in their hands cold cases, a new victim had been found in the early hours of the morning. Backstage, same _modus operandi_. All of a sudden, the investigation was back under the light, the urge to solve it even more urgent.

"Is there any correlation between Milady and Nora or Antigone, if only to an extent?"

Maura pouted. She hated making assumptions which was probably one of the reasons why she had chosen science. There was something comforting and reassuring in clear answers, in certainty.

Well-established facts.

Life was complicated enough to not add any guessing at it. Yet it was exactly what Jane liked; as if having between her hands the future of people didn't seem to make her panic the slightest bit.

"She is supposed to be a spy who uses her charms – psychological manipulation – and excellent story teller skills to succeed in whatever she wants to obtain. Thus, it isn't completely untrue to say that she doesn't necessarily fit in the standards of her era; as a woman."

The brunette made a face and picked up the last victim's file from Maura's desk to leaf through it; hoping to find the detail that laid there and hadn't talked yet. The scientist echoed the gesture in silence; a long sigh sliding on her lips.

"I have never seen such neat and clean murders. He or she didn't leave anything on the scene nor on the victims. It... I don't know. Whoever this person is, you are dealing with a perfectionist who knows very well how to play with the police. Almost as if..."

Maura didn't need to finish her sentence, Jane did it for her in spite of the oppressive feeling that weighed on her shoulders; that sensation any detective didn't want to experience once in a career.

"Almost as if he or she were one of us... Although the precision and the effectiveness of the act in itself leads to think it'd be someone who has excellent medical knowledge. A scientist, maybe."

Uncomfortable, she passed her fingers over a band aid on her right hand and made a face. Within a second, Maura was by her side and forced her to sit down to examine the injury.

"Does it hurt? You should have got stitches..."

The detective rolled her eyes and scoffed yet biting the inside of her mouth as her partner touched the wound. It wasn't the first time that she cut herself while carving a pumpkin for Halloween but this time, the knife had gone deep in her flesh; blood spattering all around, highlighting the mess she had left on the table compared to Maura's perfect, clean work.

"It's just a cut, really."

After a close inspection, the line on the honey blonde's forehead vanished, soon replaced by a soft caress of her thumb on Jane's back of the hand; brushing the band aid. As she felt Maura's foot – sliding up and down her calf – the detective giggled and began to move uncomfortably.

If they had not openly talked about it, implicit rules had been settled regarding their workplace. It was already complicated to keep a low profile outside the BPD with Cailin and Angela around that the slightest attempt of closeness at the police department was simply impossible.

"Good thing you ruined your right hand, not the left one..."

While a mischievous smirk appeared on the honey blonde's lips, she passed a leg between Jane's – squeezed her partner's thigh – while coming dangerously close to her mouth. The brunette cast a brief glance at the door of Maura's office. They hadn't closed it. Anyone could walk in, at any moment.

"I'm not sure it's the right pl-..."

Jane's remark lost itself somewhere against the medical examiner's lips. A stolen kiss, light enough to pass unnoticed. In a whirl of laughter, Maura stood up – already missing the brunette's body against hers – and went to lean against her desk.

She wished they had taken a few days off and left Boston if only for a weekend. Their respective jobs were stressful and as soon as they got a moment for themselves at her place or at Jane's, someone walked in on them like in a bad vaudeville of some sort.

"I miss you..."

For the first time in days, they hadn't spent the night together. Not that they hadn't wanted to but people around them had grown suspicious of their repetitive nights out even if nobody seemed to link it all somehow. Yet again in the morning – during breakfast – Angela had assured Maura that it was all fine to bring someone home; fine and healthy for a person in her late thirties. Had it been her way to let the blonde understand that she knew she was seeing someone?

The conversation had been awkward enough for the blonde to not mention it to Jane either.

Touched by the brunette's confession, Maura grabbed her hand before dragging her behind the Japanese screen of her office. With a soft authority, she pushed the detective to sit up on one of the small wooden tables where different oils had been arranged. Jane obliged – blushing slightly as the scientist slid herself between her legs before passing her arms around her waist – and smiled.

"Stay with me, tonight."

The whispered plea died in a deep kiss as the detective pulled her partner towards her to capture her lips eagerly. It had been over two weeks, now. Two weeks that Jane's life had taken a different turn from all the things she had experienced until then. And she felt fine, perfectly fine. There was something pure and delicate in the idea of getting to know Maura from another perspective than the one of a friendship. The blonde was sweet – playful – and rather protective. Caring. None of them had put a word on what they were having but they didn't need to, in the end. It was obvious.

Logical enough.

Jane's lips traced a path of kisses down her partner's neck, eliciting a moan – a quiet one – from the blonde. She knew Maura's body by heart, now. Its warmth, its scent. The way it shivered under her touch.

"I love you."

For a couple of seconds, the brunette froze; taken aback by her own confession. Afraid it all might go too fast. She had always had a hard time to say "I love you" to someone; to any of her relationships for that matter. But it was different with Maura. Everything was different.

A grin welcomed Jane's words as the scientist locked her eyes with her dark ones before capturing back her mouth in long, suggestive kisses accompanied by bolder and bolder caresses; loud sighs in the silence of the office.

"I brought your lunch... Maura, are you here?"

Angela's voice put an abrupt end to the frenzy they had lost themselves into and readjusting her clothes in a moment of panic, the medical examiner stepped back in her office.

"I am here. I was err..."

Maura looked down at the floor, desperately looking for a subterfuge. Such situation didn't stop getting repeated lately yet she still had a hard time dealing with it.

"Maur', are you sure the eucalyptus oil is good for my hand injury? Oh... Hi, mom."

Casually, Jane stepped from behind the Japanese screen holding a small bottle of essential oil. For a few seconds, Angela looked at both women without saying a word – squinting her eyes at them – as if pounding the situation. But her daughter's casualness seemed to result enough.

"I thought you were upstairs, Janie. Is your hand cut still bothering you? I told you that you should have got stitches... Maura! You're a doctor, you should tell her. You're the only one she'll listen to."

The brunette opened her mouth to reply but remained quiet, taken aback as she watched Korsak and Frost arrive and enter the office.

"Ah, here you are! Your phone must be off, you never took our calls... You're undercover tonight. You got two tickets to attend another adaptation of _A Doll's House. _Take Dr. Isles with you. Looks like it's some radical feminist project of some sort and it's better to send two women there. Now we have to get you ready for this... Oh... Is that chicken curry, Angela? It smells delicious!"

Suddenly overwhelmed by the crowd gathered in the scientist's office, Jane turned around to cast a furtive glance at Maura and shrugged, sorry. The BPD was definitely not the right place for an intimate lunch break.


	15. Someone Like You

_**Author's note: thank you very much for the reviews!**_

**Chapter Fifteen:**

"Enjoy the movie, girls!"

In a whirl of smiles and enthusiasm that only young students could show off, Cailin and Chloe left the house for the evening; the living-room falling back into its usual silence within a second. Angela looked around, a bit disarmed before the sudden emptiness of the place. And nostalgic, somehow. Since Maura's sister had come to live here, the matriarch had found herself projected fifteen years backwards in her own house; with the same dramas, constant up and down news that only a bunch of young people could bring along. Time had flown by and would do its trick again after Thanksgiving when Hope's daughter would go back to live at her permanent place. The medical examiner had not really alluded to it but Angela knew that deep inside, Maura was delighted to have Cailin there, by her side.

Not really knowing what to do, Jane's mother went to sit on the couch and grabbed a magazine that had been left wide opened on the coffee table.

"_Ten Signs That Tell She Is Dating Another Woman"_

Checking the cover of the publication, Angela assumed the LGBT magazine belonged to Chloe who had forgotten it before going out. It wasn't the type of reading Maura usually gave into. Even less Jane. Out of curiosity and because she didn't have much plans for the evening, Angela settled further on the couch and started reading the article in question.

…

Maura passed the door of her house a couple of hours later. Dropping her yoga bag on her way to the kitchen, she smiled at Angela who was now sat at the counter drinking some tea.

"How are you doing?"

The fresh water slid on the medical examiner's throat with a visible pleasure. She liked going to late classes in the evening. It was the perfect way for her to release the stress of the day and make sure that she would sleep well at night. Suddenly, she noticed Angela's discomfort and worried, Maura frowned; came closer to her interlocutor.

"Is everything alright?"

A few seconds passed by during which the matriarch didn't say a word. As if lost in her thoughts, she kept on staring at an invisible point in front of her. Finally, Angela looked up at the blonde and shrugged.

"Do you think Jane's a lesbian?"

Maura made a step backwards and swallowed hard; completely taken aback by the question. Panic was slowly invading her – sweeping away the serenity brought by the yoga class – and while trying to control her breath, she shook her head at Angela.

"Excuse me?"

In a sigh of uncertainty, Jane's mother slid the LGBT magazine under the blonde's nose, opened it to the right page. Shrugging, she pouted at the article she now knew by heart for having read it over and over for the past two hours.

"Maybe it's the reason why all her dates turn bad. She's 39... Shouldn't she be able to settle down with someone? And the article, it says things that Jane does all the time. Also, Chloe reminds me of her at her own age... And she's living with a woman. Yet if it's true why isn't she telling me about it? I have nothing against it."

Maura took another sip of water but made a face. The drink was warm, now. It had lost its relaxing effects. Discarding the glass on the kitchen counter, she sat on a stool next to Angela and crossed her hands.

Except she didn't know what to say, what to do. The situation was delicate and her lack of sociability skills were cruelly showing.

"It's a person like you that she'd need, Maura. You're the only one who can put up with her temper and bring her good; peace... Besides, I know you date women. Don't get me wrong, I have not spied on you or anything but this house isn't that big. I've seen you at night sometimes when coming back home from Lord knows where and you weren't alone."

...

Quietly, Jane put her shoes down on the floor – closed the door – then turned around to smile at Maura who had put aside the novel she had been reading as the brunette had entered the room.

Within a few steps that separated her from the bed, Jane took off her pants and her bra before climbing on the mattress in her shorties and shirt. Maura's lips welcomed her in a long awaited kiss. Quietly enough. It was almost 1am and the whole neighborhood had plunged in its usual silence.

"I hate night shifts."

While saying so, Jane settled on the honey blonde's lap and pouted; passing her arms around her partner's neck. Maura's hands on her waist made her shiver, slightly. Nobody had ever had such an effect on her. The mere touch from the medical examiner was enough to stir up a whole mechanic of reactions from her body; addicting feelings that made her wish she could pass under the scientist's skin and rest there for the eternity.

"Is Cailin here?"

Maura nodded and began to play absentmindedly with the brunette's curls that were falling on her shoulders. Was she supposed to tell her about Angela's confession? Jane would panic, she knew it. Perhaps it wasn't the right timing. And yet...

"Your mother thinks I stare at women and that I would be the perfect person for you."

Obviously surprised, Jane rose a dubious eyebrow soon replaced by a smirk. She put away from Maura's face a lock of hair and let her fingertips slide a bit longer on her partner's cheek.

"How many glasses of Pinot did you give her?"

The blonde giggled – bit her lower lip – and shook her head before passing a hand under Jane's shirt to caress her lower back rather suggestively.

"None."

With boldness, the detective locked her eyes with Maura's and took her shirt off; a defying smile on her lips.

"Then for once I can't but agree with her."

She bent over for a kiss – a long, deep one – that soon enough made her roll on her side, Maura's waist squeezed between her legs as her hands began the lustful exploration of the blonde's warm body. They would get there at some point. One day, they would feel ready and announce – one way or another – that their relation went beyond friendship. Because it was obvious. Because it was all they wanted in the end. Because coming backwards was out of the question for both. But for the moment, all they cared about was the selfish satisfaction of sharing a secret together. The rest didn't matter yet.

A rear of laughter coming from the room next door stopped them in their tracks. Surprised, Jane looked at the wall and frowned. Maura's giggle came to die in her neck. She didn't seem bothered much by the situation.

"Chloe, Molly and Megan spend the night."

The brunette nodded, yet glad to have been whispering all along if the walls were that thin.

"She never brings guys?"

Maura shrugged. She had also wondered about it – especially since Cailin had once asked her for a condom – but curiously enough the scientist still had to cross one boy at her place.

"Perhaps she does during the day when we're working. I don't know... She's been spending a lot of time outside, lately... Although I still have the regular "hit and drink" student welcome from time to time when I come back from the BPD. Unfortunately, I can't say that her boundaries are so well defined either."

Finally abandoning the contemplation of the wall to lock her eyes back with Maura's, Jane passed a hand through her partner's hair before resting it on her nape. On top of her, the blonde molded her body closer to the detective's and smiled brightly.

"But anyway... For the moment, I have other priorities."


	16. She Owes That To Me

_**Author's note: thank you again for the reviews!**_

**Chapter Sixteen:**

Jane's lips caressed her shoulder – softly – and as she felt the brunette's arms holding her frame tighter in her back, Maura closed her eyes. Smiled. Her leg slid between her partner's – her foot playing with the detective's calf – eliciting a quiet giggle against her neck where Jane had come to rest her head.

It was a peaceful afternoon, far from the noisy BPD and the coldness of crime scenes. Just a day off in the buzzing of their stressful life that after a short walk through Boston Common had ended up at Maura's; under the warmth of a blanket, in bed.

"Do your parents know? Do they know you date women?"

Jane's hoarse voice resounded low and timid in the room, against the scientist's jaw. Looking down at the floor, Maura frowned and passed her tongue over her lips. Such conversation was fair – she had to recognize it – yet it bothered her slightly. She didn't use to talk about this, to nobody. And truth to be told, she had grown accustomed to the silence surrounding it.

"Yes. Yes, they do."

Jane moved in her back – her body still molded against hers – and rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder.

"What was their reaction when you told them? How did you bring it up?"

Maura shrugged before focusing on the trees outside the window, right in front of her. Their leaves had embraced reddish shades and soon enough, they would begin to fall as the sky would turn gray and the first snow flakes would cover the streets. She liked the fall, for its symbolism; the quietness that seemed to emanate from it.

"They guessed... Probably even before I realized it myself. One day they came to my boarding school and there was this girl who somehow fascinated me, for whatever reason. My mother simply asked me if I liked her. I nodded... Then we never really talked about it again but they are fine with it. I didn't grow up in such conservative family. My father is a professor and my mother is an artist. It is quite an open-minded surrounding. They have always had friends who were in a same-sex relation. They used to invite them at home for dinner, like any other couple... It has never been a problem."

A few seconds passed by during which none of them spoke; Maura pondering her own words, Jane lost in her thoughts. Finally, the brunette gave in.

"Why don't you make it clear and out in the open to everyone? People assume you're straight. I did, that's for sure."

The honey blonde pouted, frowned. Somehow, she was glad that Jane was in her back and could not face her properly. It was a delicate matter, if only for her.

"My private life is nobody's business but mine. I am not ashamed of it, it is all fine to me. Besides, I never really had the occasion – a good reason – to say it. I wasn't in a relationship that mattered till now... And perhaps I didn't tell you because I was afraid to lose you. It could have changed what we had – even if we had pretended the opposite – and I didn't want that."

Her own confession made her blush. For years, she had tried to ignore it – to not pay attention to her own silence – but now she said it, Maura noticed the weight of the whole thing; of her relation to Jane and how it might have never really been friendship.

"I don't know how to say it."

The brunette's remark got Maura's full attention and worried, she turned around to face Jane; her fingertips caressing her partner's cheek soothingly. The detective rolled her eyes then shrugged.

"I don't know how to bring it up... To my mother, my brothers... My colleagues. I have no idea how to do it properly and yet I know I'm tired of... You know... I don't want to make sure nobody's around if I want to kiss you. Nor think it twice before holding your hand if I feel like to."

Surprised, Maura opened her mouth to reply but stifled voices stopped her before she had time to do so. Immediately, she turned her head towards the bedroom door – Jane echoing her gesture – as panic set off.

"I think Maura has one in her bedroom, I can check if you want."

Cailin's voice resounded loud – too loud – behind the thin wooden door.

"Oh, shit... Move, get up!"

In a nervous movement – matching Jane's own panic – Maura sat up and pushed her partner on the side of the bed, miscalculating the distance with the edge of the mattress. The brunette rolled over and landed loudly on the floor, sliding with the sheet she was clutched to.

"Ouch!"

Turning around, the medical examiner bent over the bed to check on Jane. Sat on the floor – and grimacing – the brunette was holding her right wrist. She looked in pain.

"Are you alright? Go... Go hide... Go hide in the closet!"

Trying to ignore the irony of such comment, Maura got up – put a bathrobe on – and made sure that Jane had finally stepped into her walk-in closet before opening the door of her bedroom.

Facing a very surprised Cailin, she forced a smile; a casual one.

"I always enjoy... Spending time in bed when I take a day off."

...

Angela looked down at Jane's cast and shook her head.

"Is this a running gag? After almost losing your thumb while carving a pumpkin you now break your wrist?"

Embarrassed enough, the brunette rolled her eyes and mumbled an inaudible reply. After a four-hour wait at the ER, the diagnostic had been cleared enough: she had broken her wrist while falling from the bed, trying to escape from Cailin.

"I can't believe it happened on your day off... And where is Maura?"

Settling further on her couch, the detective stared at the medicine discarded on the coffee table; mostly painkillers. Now she had a cast on, she could forget about crime scenes and investigations. Paperwork would wait for her, for the next three weeks or so. Until she were able to hold a gun properly again.

"She went for a take-out, burgers and fries."

Angela frowned, obviously surprised. Maura might not have been her daughter, she still knew her as well as her own children.

"She agreed on junk food?"

Jane snorted and grabbed a beer; trying desperately to open the bottle with one hand. It had been a while since the last time she had got a cast. She had lost her reflexes. Rising an eyebrow, a shrug accompanied her dry reply.

"She owes that to me."

The door of the brunette's apartment got opened and Jo Friday came in, trotting towards Jane to settle on her lap. Bags in hand, a very guilty Maura entered and smiled apologetically at Angela.

"Cailin insisted on lending you a few movies, Jane... Wait, let me open the bottle for you."

The scientist grabbed the beer and opened it. Immediately, she arranged the dvd's on the coffee table for the brunette to see.

_Love Actually. Imagine You And Me. Friends With Benefits._

Squinting her eyes at the singular choice, Jane looked up at Maura; asking in silence whether it was a joke of some sort. Fortunately, her mother didn't seem to notice the slightest thing and put her coat back on.

"If everything's okay then I'm gonna go... Maura, you're a doctor. I count on you to look after Jane. Unless you want me to stay, Janie? Sean will understand if..."

Hand in the air – repressing a mock of disgust – Jane stopped her mother and motioned at the door.

"Just... Go. That's fine. It's only a broken wrist and I'm 39 years old, not 4. You... Have fun."

Smiling shyly, Angela nodded – planted a kiss on top of her daughter's head – and left. A heavy silence wrapping up the apartment. Bottle of beer in hand, the detective turned around and locked her eyes with Maura's.

"You. Are. A. Beast."

Feeling atrociously guilty, the honey blonde hid her face between her hands and shook her head. It was an accident yet she still had broken Jane's wrist. Without saying a word, she stood up – picked up a sharpie from the grocery bag – and sat back next to her partner before bending over the cast.

"What are you doing, Maur'? Don't you think I'm a bit old for messages and drawings?"

But as the blond locks of hair took some distance and allowed Jane to look down at the cast, the detective didn't see anything at all on it. Until Maura turned the lights off and her handwriting did appear, in the dark, fluorescent.

"_A kiss per painkiller... Will you ever forgive me?_

_I love you more than anything."_

As a small smile began to play on her lips, Jane turned her head around and shrugged at Maura who had sat back next to her on the couch after lighting a few candles she had bought at the deli.

"I hate the way you're so persuasive."

The brunette's words floated around – carried on by light giggles – then died in a quiet kiss as she bent over to capture Maura's lips.


	17. Whatever Happens On Halloween

_**Author's note: thank you so much for all the reviews, I really enjoy reading them!**_

**Chapter Seventeen:**

The dark eye shadow highlighted the color of her pupils – the pale complexion of her skin – and her long, honey blond curls that fell in a cascade on her shoulders.

With an expert eye, she cast a last glance at the whole; adjusted her corset one more time. Behind her shoulder – in the reflection of the mirror – she saw Cailin arrive and stand there in her back. A shy smile embraced her lips as she began to clean and tidy up the pieces of makeup spread in front of her. She had opted for a dark, purple lipstick matching the velvet of her Victorian dress.

A sharp contrast with the white foundation she had used for her face.

"You're beautiful, Maura."

The compliment made her blush. Within a few weeks, Hope would be back to the United States and truth to be told, Maura hadn't spent as much time with her sister as she would have liked in the first place. The frenzy of her job, her relation with Jane. A whole series of elements had prevented them from getting closer; from learning about each other.

"Hopefully this corset won't make me pass out. It is quite tight... What an idea Jane had to choose this Victorian vampire costume for me. Good thing I took my revenge – won the second chess game – and got to decide upon her own costume. She will go as Morticia Addams."

With a satisfied smile, the medical examiner locked her eyes with her sister's through the mirror and shrugged; amused. She was looking forward to seeing the detective in a lowcut dress with her hair straightened and a dark makeup that would highlight her bone structure. Cailin laughed lightly at the remark and leaning against the wall of Maura's bedroom, she crossed her arms on her chest.

"I know for you and Jane... I saw you. Why do you keep on pretending that you're just friends when you can barely spend a night without each other?"

The confession took the honey blonde completely aback. Hope's daughter was very direct in her remarks, too much perhaps. Swallowing hard – trying to guess when the young student had walked in on them – Maura looked down at her hands and shook her head.

"It isn't as easy as it seems. You can't understand, Cailin."

The brunette snorted, rolled her eyes. Hands in the pockets of her jeans, she passed her tongue over her lips and frowned. Confusion melting into a sour disappointment, deepening her features.

"I'd have never imagined you'd care so much about what the others could say... I thought you had more guts. And yet. Angela's just fine with it, so are pretty much all the people who surround you. But you keep on being secretive, as if you were ashamed of it; scared. It's bullshit."

Something began to boil in Maura's lower stomach, a whirl of anger that made her clench her fists and stand up suddenly before turning around to face her sister.

"This is none of your business. Why are you so obsessed with me and Jane? Mind your own stuff, dammit!"

Frowning, Cailin passed a hand through her hair then looked at Maura with utter disappointment on her face.

"I've grown up in your shadows all my life. My mother's lost child... Then suddenly you reappear and she admires you so much. Except you're a coward, someone unable to assume to her barest feeling. There's nothing to admire about you. It's... I hope my mother will never see through this or else she'll have a hard time dealing with it."

Cailin stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

…

"Okay, let's find you a bottle of Pinot Noir. I guess you totally deserve it, tonight."

Repressing the urge to kiss away Maura's latent pain, Jane guided the scientist through the crowd of The Dirty Robber – where monsters talked and laughed to zombies – and reached the counter to order their drinks.

As the honey blonde had arrived, the detective hadn't missed Maura's forced smile. It hadn't taken her long to tell Jane about her argument with Cailin. And as much as she could have said the exact opposite, the truth was that it had shaken her a bit.

"Nobody's supposed to be sad on Halloween, Maur'. This is why booze has been invented."

Except the pub was running out of wine; or at least the bottles left were stocked in the storehouse. Before the crowd of customers gathered around – waiting for their drinks – Jane sighed and took things in hand.

She was more than a mere regular, after all. Her father had repaired the place and it is with a perfect trust that she managed to get the keys to the storage.

Making their way through the crowd, they finally reached the long corridor that led to private areas. The door was on their left; hidden behind false spider webs. Fumbling in the dark, it took a while for her to open it and step inside. She turned the light on, looked around. Maura by her side.

"This is your lucky day, Maur'. Pick up the one you w-..."

Her comment got interrupted as she heard the door get slammed in her back. Within a second, she turned around and reached it, knowing beforehand how vain it would be. There was no door knob inside and she had left the keys on the lock, on the other side.

"Oh, fuck!"

Her fist landed on the door – heavily – but the music and the conversations covered her attempts, her stifled screams. Behind her and rather serene in spite of the situation, Maura grabbed her cell phone but made a face then shook her head.

"I have no signal..."

Sighing loudly, Jane pressed her forehead against the door before turning around to look at the honey blonde. For once she didn't have to work for Halloween, she could have been enjoying The Dirty Robber legendary parties.

But it would have been without counting on her idiot choices and now they were locked in the storeroom for an undetermined amount of time.

"At least this way I'll avoid any comment regarding my costume."

The crowd scene of the pub was mostly composed of BPD officers and detectives and she hadn't missed the looks of surprise as she had arrived dressed up as a rather convincing Morticia Addams. She was not only wearing a dress but one that didn't leave much room to imagination over her chest area. Added to the heavy makeup and her hair she had straightened, she could hardly pass unnoticed.

"People have to be blind to not find you stunning, tonight."

Passing her tongue over her lips suggestively, Maura stared at Jane from her feet to her head. Her straightened black hair was appealing – exotic – while the matching dress embraced her curves with elegance.

The medical examiner smiled mischievously and approached her partner. She grabbed her by the hips, pinned her against the wall. Her hand slid down the brunette's leg before passing underneath the fabric of the dress and going back up slowly.

"You are sexy."

Maura's husky voice made Jane swallow hard. Annoyed by her stilettos, the detective took them off and ran her leg against her partner's calf. The honey blonde took it as a sign and – a hand on Jane's neck, the other one on her waist – she bent over for a deep, rough kiss.

The abrupt gesture took the brunette off balance. Molding her body against Jane's, Maura's firm grip on her partner's hip prevented the detective from falling down.

With authority, the blonde lifted the detective's leg while tracing a path of kisses down her neck but the brunette turned out to be faster and reached the medical examiner's chest before, eliciting low moans from the blonde who threw her head backwards; a hand in her partner's hair.

With a urge barely contained, Jane found back Maura's moist lips and let herself wrap up in eager – passionate – kisses. A moan escaped her mouth as she felt her partner's knee brush her, between her legs; playfully.

"That's hot!"

The voice made them jump of surprise. Still clutched to each other, they both turned their heads around and froze at the scene: Giovanni, Angela, Frost, Korsak and Cailin were standing by the now opened door.

Maura's grip on Jane's leg wrapped around her waist. Her other hand lost in the depths of the brunette's neck. Her corset slightly untied.

Jane's cast hand down on the scientist's buttocks. The other one in the blond locks of hair. A few traces of purple lipstick on her shoulder blades and lowcut.

Every single one of them joined by a mock of utter shock.


	18. If You Need Anyone

_**Author's note: thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews!**_

**Chapter Eighteen:**

It wasn't humiliating but unfortunate. Extremely unfortunate. Pouring herself a mug of herbal tea, Jane looked up at her living-room and sighed. For once, the place was tidy. Too much, perhaps. The more she thought about it, the more she liked her usual mess. It was just her: dirty laundry on the floor, abandoned glasses of water on the coffee table. But nervous before the perspective of showing up at the Halloween party in a feminine dress, she had lost herself in a cleaning frenzy in the afternoon and there she was, now; facing something way too neat.

The sound of the shower – coming from the bathroom – reassured her. After the turn the evening had taken, Maura was her last reference left; the one she had desperately clutched to when half of the people she knew had walked in on them at the wrong moment.

Needless to say they hadn't stayed at The Dirty Robber for very long after that. Just enough to learn how Cailin had stopped by – as planned – to tell Maura that she would spend the night with Megan – and not finding her sister, everyone had joined her in the quest. Lamest coincidence ever. Slightly uncomfortable, Jane went to sit on her couch. She turned the television on.

What would happen, now? Probably nothing special except they wouldn't have to hide anymore nor find poor excuses that would explain a couple of strange situations they found themselves in. It just hadn't turned the way she had imagined it would. Not the slightest bit.

A knock on the door made her jump. Reluctantly, she stood up – checked in the peephole – and let a moan pass her lips. Had she really assumed that she would escape from it?

"Hi, ma'..."

Angela walked in, although not carried by her usual exuberance. Instead, the woman looked vaguely intimidated; uncomfortable. In a mumble, she accepted some tea and settled by the kitchen counter. Jane poured her a mug, the smell of vanilla embracing her.

"Will you ever look at me again?"

The question made the brunette laugh, lightly enough. Not knowing what to say, she obliged and locked her dark eyes with her mother's. Was it what it felt like once one revealed a certain part of one's life? A pale smile played on Jane's lips. She shrugged.

"Have you been together for a while or it was just... Tonight?"

The detective made a face – rolled her eyes – but nodded to repress her mother's complain before such reaction from her part. Clutched to her own mug, she counted until five in her head then bit her lower lip.

"It's been a while."

Angela nodded slowly and cast a glance on her right as if noticing the sound of the shower for the first time.

"A long time?"

The question divided Jane. In all honesty, she wouldn't have been able to say. If she had rarely run to her mother in order to tell her that she was in a relationship, Angela had always got to know more or less soon.

"Three weeks or so..."

The confession made the matriarch scoff. Bringing a hand to her heart, the shock of surprise soon melted in disappointment and within a second, Angela seemed to be on the verge of crying.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I know we aren't that close but... It's not just another detail. It has its importance, Jane. Don't you trust me enough? ... You knew I wouldn't judge you for that and it's all fine to me. Even more if it's Maura... You know she's family already. Damn I guess it's not even such a big surprise when I think about it. And yet... Why did you hide it from me?"

Angela wasn't mad, just a tad hurt. Her voice had broken; highlighting a sentiment of betrayal from her daughter. An involuntary one. Jane shook her head – discarded her mug of tea – and grabbed her mother's hand to press it tightly.

"It's not you but me. I needed time to... I don't know, to process the whole thing. It's not a matter of being afraid. It's... What I know? It's not that easy to realize – one day – that you want more from the person you have always seen as a friend. And then it happens... And... It's confusing."

Angela nodded timidly. Without thinking it twice, Jane crossed the distance that separated them both and took her mother in her arms.

"And you're okay, now? Because if you're not, you know you can count on me. I'll support you, no matters what. You're not alone, Janie."

Touched, the detective didn't say a word. She simply smiled at her mother and nodded.

"I am starving. How about we get Chinese del-... Oh, Angela. I didn't know that you were here."

Her hair still damp from her shower – sporting Jane's shirt and yoga pants – Maura stopped in her tracks as she noticed the late-night visitor. Immediately, the scientist looked down at her feet; heat rushing up her cheeks. She swallowed hard, assumed that she must have looked stupid clutched to her bath towel; her long honey curls not combed yet. Especially after what had happened at The Dirty Robber.

As much as she was comfortable before the idea of being in a same-sex relationship, Maura could not say that she was thrilled to have been caught in the act by her partner's parent. It was slightly embarrassing to say the least.

"I was just stopping by, Maura. Don't be worried, I'm not going to bother you any longer. I..."

Taking a deep breath, the honey blonde looked up at Angela and shook her head; frowned before rising a hand in the air.

"You aren't bothering us! How about... Would you like to stay with us for dinner? Is Chinese food okay for you? Although it can... It can be any cuisine, of course: French, Italian, Spanish, Indian, Japanese, Mexican, German, Korean, Scottish although I don't like Haggis much to be honest..."

As the words began to get mixed in her head, Maura stopped talking and looked at Jane with distress in her eyes. If it went on like that, she would be hyperventilating within a minute now.

A tad amused – and charmed – the brunette passed an arm around her waist before planting a soft kiss there, on her temple. The gesture resulted sweet enough, slightly awkward perhaps for it being the first public one; in front of a relative.

"Yeah... Stay with us, ma'."

Trying desperately to relax, Maura shrugged and smiled at Angela. Since Jane's mother had got a divorce and moved to her place, both had grown closer and found something sweet in the relation they had built. Alluding to subjects Angela wouldn't dare to talk about with her own children, quite personal ones.

"I mean... Unless you have other plans. With..."

A smirk appeared on the matriarch as she noticed her daughter's reaction before Maura's remark. Shaking her head, she burst out laughing.

"With a certain lieutenant? No, I don't. Sean had other plans, tonight."

A quiet sigh passed Jane's lips; one that nonetheless didn't pass unnoticed to Maura. Knowing how hard it was for the brunette to deal with the idea that her mother could have been dating her boss, the medical examiner grabbed her partner's hand and pressed it tightly; her thumb caressing Jane's soft skin.


	19. An Advice From Your Sister

_**Author's note: thank you again for all the reviews; I don't always write about the reactions following Jane and Maura's couple getting official but considering the way people learned about it, I assumed it was fair enough to do so this time.**_

**Chapter Nineteen:**

The front door got slammed, taking Maura out of her concentration over a couple of medical files. Cailin stepped in – noticed her older sister's presence – and looked down at her feet. Things were just not the same anymore since Halloween, as if a veil of discomfort had wrapped them both and it was complicated – delicate – to go on.

"You are coming back home late."

It wasn't a reproach anymore but a remark; a simple, bare one. Abandoning her notes, the scientist looked at Cailin and smiled. The young brunette discarded her bag on the floor, shrugged.

"I was at the library."

Maura nodded then realized that she had nothing else to add. How she hated her incapacity to go on and properly establish any communication with the slightest person, even a relative. Jane being the exception for a reason she couldn't explain.

With this typical casualness that took the blonde aback , Hope's daughter headed to the fridge for a bottle of water. Taking a sip of it, she leaned against the large doors and bit her lower lip.

"I can be quite obstinate, at times. I'm sorry if I've been harsh. It wasn't intended."

The confession surprised Maura and made her blush. Apart from mumbling a vague thank you on Halloween when Cailin had stopped by The Dirty Robber to confirm her that she wouldn't spend the night at her place, they hadn't talked much since their latest argument in the master bedroom.

"Never excuse yourself for defending your opinions. Even if it is a bit direct..."

The brunette rolled her eyes – smirked – then shook her head. The honey blonde's diplomacy was annoying, at times. Especially for someone who lacked such character feature. Within three steps, Cailin went to sit on the edge of Maura's small desk. Her fingers slid absentmindedly on the sheet of papers, the black and white pictures of what looked like an autopsy room from the 19th century.

"My mother really likes you. It's... She thought you were dead. The day she learned it wasn't true... It was big for her, you know. Then you turned out to be a medical examiner and... And you look so much like her. It's a lot. I grew up with the ghost of a child loss at birth and now you're here."

Nervously, Maura began to play with her glass of wine. Since Hope had made it into her life, she had wondered how this woman had managed to go on for so long thinking that her daughter had died except she hadn't thought about Cailin and the consequences.

"It still doesn't explain why you are so obsessed with me and Jane."

The young student sighed before shaking her head rather dramatically. Passing a hand through her hair, she simply shrugged at the scientist, pouted.

"I just wanted you to be happy. You looked so lonely... And in love with her. Sometimes you have to force fate for it to happen. Do you regret it? Aren't you happy, now?"

Maura chuckled and crossed her arms against her chest in a gesture of sudden timidity. She hadn't talked about Jane and her to anybody until now and the truth was that she appreciated that Cailin pushed her to do so.

"No, I don't regret it. Of course not. Although it might have been... A singular way for you to bring it up to us. And yes. Yes, I am happy. Really happy."

A smile of satisfaction played on the brunette's lips. She had succeeded in her plan, even if it had not been as easy as she had assumed that it would be. Casting a glance around, she frowned and shook her head at her sister.

"Where's Jane?"

The question elicited giggles from Maura. She took a sip of her wine – enjoyed the warm liquid on her throat – and discarded the medical files she had been working on. Obviously, she wouldn't get much done on them that evening.

"At her place... We aren't glued, you know... We work together, we are in a relationship together... I guess it is good if not just paramount for our sake to have these moments far from each other."

Cailin squinted her eyes at her sister, obviously not convinced much by such argument. Not saying a word herself, she waited for the entire truth to be told. Maura didn't miss it. She made a face and lifted her hands in the air in a sign of abdication.

"Okay... She will arrive later, around 11pm."

The young student burst out laughing. Jumping off the desk, she stretched out her arms but didn't go away either; as if she wanted this sweet moment with her sister to last.

"Do you want a glass of wine?"

Without waiting for a reply, Maura headed to the kitchen and poured a glass before tending it to a very surprised Cailin. The blonde shrugged; smiled.

"If you were still living in London, it wouldn't be much of an issue. At least you get to drink quality, not one of these cheap bottles students usually buy at the deli."

…

Jo Friday entered first – trotting in the large living-room – probably looking for Bass that was still a source of mystery to the dog.

Abandoning her bag by the door, Jane stepped in but stopped as soon as she noticed Maura and Cailin on the couch. Both sisters were obviously in full talk, a glass of wine in hand. They turned their head around at the slight intrusion.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

A silly grin embraced Jane's lips and in a cartoon-ish way, she motioned at the door; asking quietly if she had to leave back immediately. Maura's giggle reassured her somehow and as she tended her arm towards the brunette, the detective obliged; coming closer.

Maura grabbed her hand – pulled her to her body – then planted a soft kiss on her lips as Jane gave in and bent over.

"Are you doing something on Sunday? Cailin loves photography and she would like to take a few pictures of us. Nothing fashionable, don't be worried. It would be more... Casual."

If there was one thing that the detective hated, it was to appear on pictures. But before the offer and Maura's obvious bonding with her sister, she felt the urge to accept. It wouldn't have been nice to refuse and if she had to be honest, she was more than glad to see that her partner had finally been sharing some peaceful time with Hope's daughter.

"You mean like in Boston Common? Yeah, sure. Why not... Enjoying the wine, Cailin?"

The young student giggled, a bit uncomfortable to sort of break the law in front of a member of the police department. But Jane's bright smile reassured her immediately.

"It's okay. Just don't do it outside nor buy a bottle by yourself, hmm? Well, if you're looking for me I'll be upstairs. It's late and I want to check a few things on the web regarding the case... Goodnight, Cailin."

Jane pressed Maura's forearm in a gesture of affection then disappeared up the stairs.

"I like her. Good choice, Maura."

The blonde blushed slightly at her sister's comment and pondered something that had been burning her lips for a while, now. Clearing her voice, she moved uncomfortably on the couch.

"Cailin... Were you the person who slammed the door and locked us in the storage room at The Dirty Robber for Halloween?"

The question made the brunette smile. She couldn't be mad at Maura for asking such a thing; not after knowing she had tried – over and over – to set them up no mattered what.

Discarding her empty glass of wine on the coffee table, she shook her head.

"Nope... It wasn't me. Looks like fate was on my side, this time... But if you allow me to suggest you something... I've walked in on you two twice already and... Well... Be versatile, Maura. Let her top you from time to time... Goodnight."

Mortified, Maura froze as Cailin stood up and – all smile – retreated to her bedroom for the night.


	20. Checkmate

_**Author's note: thank you again very much for all your reviews, I really appreciate you took some time to write them.**_

**Chapter Twenty:**

Jane ended up the call and in a sigh of frustration rolled her eyes before shaking her head quietly at Maura. She crossed her arms on her chest then frowned.

"It's a cold case."

Not paying attention to the brouhaha in the background – Angela and Cailin in the kitchen while Tommy, Frankie and Korsak were in full talk on the couch – the medical examiner took her partner in her arms and hugged her tight.

"I am sorry..."

Maura knew how Jane hated these moments when her investigations led to nowhere and they had no choice but to close the case without solving it properly. By then, the detective thought about a thousand things; from the victims to their families. The culprit who wouldn't be punished. As much as she had done her job, the taste of failure floated heavily.

Leaning against one of the columns of the lobby where she had retreated to take her call, Jane slid her hands up Maura's forearms and let the honey blonde take her by the waist before leaning over for a kiss; a long one. Quiet. Before the buzzing routine of special days, they hadn't had much time for themselves in the morning and even less since everyone had arrived for the meal.

"Hands off, Rizzoli."

Frost's voice made them jump of surprise. Bottle of wine in hand, the detective looked utterly sorry. As if to excuse himself for the interruption, he immediately motioned at the kitchen.

"There's a gnocchi emergency and your mother needs you asap."

Casting a glance at the kitchen, Jane nodded in silence and leaned her head backwards against the column; not letting go of Maura's hand.

"Is it too late to skip Thanksgiving this year?"

The smirk that appeared on Maura's lips just like the way she rose a dubious eyebrow put Jane on high alert and before the scientist got a chance to lose herself in some obscure explanation over the American celebration, the brunette sealed the well deserved silence with a light kiss.

She was about to turn on her heels and reluctantly enough go help in the kitchen when the door bell stopped her in her tracks. As if to win some time with Maura, the detective grabbed the honey blonde's hand and let her open the door.

"Hope! It is so nice to see you. Welcome back here."

An impeccable smile lighting up her features, the older woman didn't miss the way Maura and Jane were standing in the door way hand in hand. But out of politeness, she didn't make any remark and stepped inside when invited to do so. Excusing herself, the brunette left for the kitchen as Angela called her name for the thousandth time within a minute.

"How are you doing, Maura? How did it go? Cailin can be quite intrusive, at times. I hope that she didn't turn out to be too much of an issue."

Closing the door behind her, Maura thought about the last months; the arguments, the plans to set her up with Jane, the misunderstandings. The tears, the laughter. And the past few weeks when at last she had managed to get to know Cailin better. They had spent time together and even if they were different, a special bond linked them; a strong one that made Maura proud.

"She is a very nice person. It is going to be strange to not have her around anymore."

She was honest. Somehow and in spite of the roller coaster Cailin had made her live, Maura didn't want to see her sister leave. Not yet, never.

She was catching back on time, on all these fantasies she had had as a little girl to have a family and siblings. At no moment had she imagined that relations could be so complicated – painful – but all in all she found it addicting and beautiful.

An hour later while everyone finally got to gather around the table, the honey blonde smiled while studying the scene. It was perfect, just as she wanted. Yet noticing her sudden silence, Jane bent over and pressed her knee.

"Is everything alright? You look... High."

The comment made her chuckle. Without saying a word, she locked her eyes with her partner's and nodded confidently. Yet missing the way Cailin had witnessed the whole interaction – from her very own seat – and kept on smiling.

"Since this is a family gathering, I would like to know whether I have a chance to get my first nephew or niece here around this table next year."

Maura choked on her glass of wine at Cailin's remark. Not that Jane was doing any better. Red as she had never been before, the brunette was staring intently at her sweet potatoes while a nervous laugh was shaking her whole body. Obviously, Hope's daughter would always manage to surprise them one way or another.

"Oh, you have been thinking about adoption or an IVF? Not that I am surprised. It is rather logical or at least common for couples who have been together for a few years already to feel the urge to build a family."

Stunned, Maura looked up at Hope. How many people exactly had assumed that Jane and her had been friends and friends only?

...

"Checkmate."

Jane opened her mouth to protest but shook her head instead, smiled playfully at Maura on the other side of the table whose grin didn't leave much room to imagination over her victory.

Everyone had left for a few hours, now. The home falling back into a silence it hadn't known for a long time. Trying desperately to sweep away the oddness of the situation, the detective had got her partner to play chess and there they were, now; sipping their tea while focused on the board.

Sighing loudly, Jane grabbed a black and white picture discarded on the table. It was one of the shoots Cailin had taken of them in Boston Common; in black and white.

While she was trying to feed the ducks, Maura held her backwards to prevent her from falling down in the water; laughter lighting up their features, the photography capturing the sweet for the eternity.

She loved it.

"Revenge time, Maur'."

Pouting, the medical examiner leaned her chin in the palm of her hands and passed her tongue over her lips. Her eyes locked with her partner's, she remained quiet for long seconds before grabbing one of the pieces and playing with it suggestively enough for Jane to smirk.

"A penny for your thoughts."

Maura let go of the wooden piece that landed soundly on the board and let her fingers tiptoe until her partner's hand; sliding on it in a bold caress.

"As much as I deeply enjoy playing chess – especially with you – one has to be versatile and dare to go towards other games, at times."

Jane swallowed hard, played along. It had been a while since they had got the chance to actually not be interrupted by anyone at Maura's place.

"Could you be more specific? I don't like guessing."

Amused, the honey blonde rose a perplexed eyebrow and stood up before making a couple of steps backwards. Without breaking eye-contact with the detective, she unzipped her dress; the sound echoing in the quiet room.

The fabric landed on the floor, she stepped out of it.

"Is that enough of an evidence, for you?"

Jane finally stood up – passed around the table – and approached Maura. She pouted, squinted her eyes at her partner standing now in her underwear in the middle of the living-room.

"Not quite but with this kind of rules, I should do just fine."

The medical examiner's lips captured her partner's in a deep – eager – kiss. As she broke apart – slightly breathless and aroused – Maura grabbed Jane's hand and led her towards the stairs.

"Perfect. On to the first round, then."

The End

_**Author's (last!) note: thank you very much for having read this story, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Tomorrow, I will start posting "Sweet Sixteen", the sequel to "To Fix You" which will be mainly centered on Jane and Maura being an established couple dealing with their teen daughter so if you like "daily life" stories/sweet and funny Rizzles moments close to the ones you had here that highlight them both as a couple you should like it. If you haven't read "To Fix You" but are nonetheless interested, no need to read this one first. Although if you feel like to then feel free, of course. **_


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